The Fire meets the Sea
by PerseusJacksonundercover
Summary: Everything seems okay now,but is it truly so?A demigod who is neither Greek or Roman,a 'perfect' super demigod..as Percy faces betrayal from everyone he trusted. Battles will occur,for and even against the people he cares for.While an old enemy plots for the downfall of the gods!Heartbroken and on the run, will Percy return,when they need him again?Can he trust his new allies?
1. Epilogue and a new beginning

**A/N: Guys, this is my very first fanfiction on this site, although I have read several stories by all those epic people like you, out there. Please notify me if you find any mistakes or wanna suggest something. But yeah, in this story, I want to do some really different stuff…which initially may not seem like it, but this story is really going to get twisted up soon. ;)**

PERCY POV

It was almost a week now that the Romans had left. Finally, the injured were healing, the camps, as well as Olympus were repaired…to a certain extent. But things were getting better. Frank had assumed his responsibilities as a Praetor very well, even Reyna, whom I've never seen to be the complimenting type, was impressed.

Annabeth and Piper were taking care of the counselling of the campers, as well as the rebuilding of the damaged cabins. New shrines were being installed, both in Camp Jupiter as well as here at Camp Half-blood, under the instructions of His Majesty, the Pontifex Maximus, our own Pikachu with glasses, Jason Grace.(Don't tell him I called him Pikachu..We all call him that behind his back, even Piper does, but he doesn't like to be compared to any sort of Pokémon. Me? I love being called Squirtle. Squirtle is really sassy. Haha.)

After Nico "cleared the air" between us, he seems to have become a lot more sociable, although I still don't understand how I am not "his type". Like, come on. I'm everybody's type right?...Right?Aww man, guys please support me too sometimes. Anyway, it seems Will is helping him to come out of his shell. Even though his orders were 3 days bed rest at the infirmary, I've seen Nico roam around the infirmary till now too. And, I think he has found someone who could finally be "his type". It doesn't take to be an Aphrodite kid to figure that out.

Thinking about all this, I patrolled the borders near Thalia's tree, where Chiron was feeding Peleus. Earlier Chiron used to be a bit skittish around the little dragon, but soon we realized that Peleus actually loved it when Chiron fed him."It's so astonishing, isn't it Percy?" Chiron suddenly said as I came over to him."This statue of Athena, it has closed a centuries-old rift of enmity, it has even made the gods to finally be able to accommodate their twin personalities. I just wonder what Athena might be thinking right now." He smiled at me slightly, as his centuries old face seemed to again have that 30-something look from the time when I was just 12.

"Well, if she isn't thinking along the lines of killing me for kissing and dating her favourite child, then I have no problem." I laughed and said. Finally, we were able to relax, and we were enjoying it.

But, the lingering feeling of sadness still prevailed. People had lost siblings and friends. Most of all, I believe, we were missing Valdez. Somehow that flaming idiot has to survive. Nico had confessed that although he had felt him die, he had found it to be different, and the day he told us, that is, yesterday, he had also suddenly felt the fire of Leo's life come back, but it then got shrouded, as if even the child of the Underworld was not allowed to know about it. This news gave us hope, but now the expectations were running low. Chiron patted my back. He understood what I was thinking about. He had seen the bravest of heroes in their worst of times. He understood what pain we might be going through.

"The gods have finally been able to settle down within their mixing Roman and Greek personalities. Tomorrow all the major campers, from both the camps would be going to Olympus for the formal celebration. All the gods would be present. Maybe you could talk to Hephaestus and Hades. It might help."He informed me.

"Thanks, Chiron." I nodded as Grover approached me, as we headed down the hill." Hey, G-man. What's up?" I grinned at my favourite satyr. He smiled but added in a serious tone, "Hey Perce. Hey, Chiron. I just got an IM from a young satyr. As you know, the gods after stabilizing in their double personalities have again begun giving us knowledge about their kids who had been ordered to stay low, so that they didn't get dragged into war, and hopefully, none of them faced too many monsters as all monsters were busy following Gaia into war, but now with so many kids popping up, it's getting kinda difficult for us."I nodded, and Chiron requested him to continue. "This satyr was sent to bring a daughter of Athena" He smiled as he knew that it would make me interested, but what he added next was actually the thing that surprised me the most." And she is supposed to be a legacy of Poseidon too." I laughed. Annabeth would love to hear this. But first I needed to know what Grover wanted to tell us about the satyr."Well, it seems he found another demigod in the same school as her, but the weird thing is, he had a really strong smell, but we weren't able to detect him till we had our satyr in the school." I grimaced when he said that we smelled. It always sounded like a rude comment on our cleanliness status. I understand that with all the battles and weird places we go, demigods don't exactly smell good, but yeah, I understood what he actually meant.

" The satyr is at about 5 miles from here with both of them, but they are being chased by some Laistrygonian Giants, about 15 of them. They are without any weapons and although the satyr has bought them some time with some good old woodland magic. But they need help soon. I was wondering if you and a few others could go and save them. They are right down the road that leads to camp.

"On it! Finally, got to do something anyway." I removed my armour as this was more of a rescue mission rather than full out battle. Also, till now I have not been able to adjust to the weight of the Greek plated armour. "Chiron, I'm taking Annabeth, Travis, Connor, Jason and Piper. The giants won't stand a chance against us. Tell Nyssa to keep a sword and a dagger ready. I have a feeling that those two kids might just be able to defend themselves if given weapons too."Chiron nodded.

LINEBREAK~~

"Percy, how did you know that girl would use a dagger? What if she can't? "Annabeth asked as our rescue team that had loaded itself in a van got nearer to the place we were supposed to meet the demigods and the satyr.

"You're gonna teach her. That's why." I winked, as she playfully punched me. "I think it's a good idea Annabeth. It would be a cool new experience." Piper added as she pushed back her choppy hair behind her ears, getting ready for a fight."Guys, we are here." Jason announced as Travis slammed the breaks as two giants who must have "smelled" us roared and blocked the way. We tumbled out ready to fight, as we suddenly saw vines growing here and there, stalling the giants for a few moments. Soon enough, we found a satyr, leading two teens, about 15 by their looks, who rushed to our side. "Who are you guys now?" shouted the guy who surprised our satyr with his sudden smell. He looked to be of mixed descent. He was perhaps an Indo- American going by the looks, with deep brown eyes and jet black hair." They are the good guys, don't worry Arjun." the satyr said in a whiny nasal voice. The name seemed Indian too. I had heard it somewhere else, but I couldn't remember. Meanwhile, the girl with him came up to Annabeth and said, as she tried to catch her breath, "Sister! Mother told me to meet you as soon as possible, but don't you think we are a bit outnumbered right now by the giants?" She had striking greenish gray eyes, and was a blonde like Annabeth; she seemed much more alert and aware of what was happening than Arjun.

Piper smiled and said," Don't worry..Uh..."

"Gloria. Gloria Shaw."

"Don't worry Gloria; we know what we are doing." With this, Jason yelled as a bolt of lightning fell on the nearest giants turning them into dust. Arjun paled, as he looked at Jason with new found respect, as the Stoll brothers and Piper charged at the other giants with their swords drawn. Annabeth ushered the two kids into the van with the help of the satyr as I went to help the others.

The Stolls were having a good time, as they chatted and stole the stuff the giants had in their back pockets, as they swirled around them, cutting them down to dust. Piper was making life hell for the giants as she got two of them arguing over who had the bigger muscles, as she swiftly gutted them back to Tartarus. I soon joined in, jabbing, rolling and finishing whoever was left by my friends.

I heard Annabeth warn someone and soon, I saw Arjun running out, with the spare sword in hand. I smiled. "Want to learn how to beat the crap out of these guys huh?" I smirked, as he ducked under a giant's punch, and without looking, swung his sword blindly. Catching the giant by surprise, he actually killed it. I laughed, as Annabeth and Gloria swore at me about the dangers of letting an inexperienced fighter like Arjun to enter in.

"You bet green-eyes!" Arjun winked at me. I swore as this guy seemed to have a weird taste of sarcasm. I know, I know, it would be hypocritical to complain about it, but seriously, green-eyes?

But I knew Annabeth was right, and just before Arjun could get overwhelmed by the giants, I pushed him back with a jet of water, right into Gloria, sending them tumbling into the van. Soon, we had sent all of the monsters back to Papa Purple….uh….I mean, back to Tartarus.

LINEBREAK~~~

Annabeth had already explained the two teens about us, and during the entire ride, we had to tell them about the second Titan war and the recently over second Giant war. By the time we reached Camp, Arjun had already apologized to me gajillion times and looked at us as if we were superheroes. It felt cool, but I told him to relax, as Jason patted his back. Gloria was more at ease, as she had regular contact with Athena, who had warned her to stay low till the second Giant war.

Finally, at about dinner time, we arrived at camp. As soon as we entered the dining hall, a silver halo formed above Gloria, with Athena's symbol of power, an owl formed above her head." All hail Gloria Shaw, daughter of Athena, and a legacy of Poseidon!" proclaimed Chiron, earning a smirk from Mr.D, who was back at camp. Dionysus muttered something about how angry Athena was when she came to know of her daughter's descent. Everyone raised their goblets and cheered. Then suddenly, I got a question to ask Gloria. I know I am not that smart, but it was weird nobody had figured it out yet. "Hey, Gloria. You are a thought child of Athena. Then how can you be a descendant of Poseidon?"

"That's very true Percy, but you are forgetting that my dad's thoughts contribute too. He was a legacy of Poseidon, which now holds true for me too. She gave me an understanding smile. Well, at least, she didn't think I was a seaweed brain. I didn't want another person calling me that.

As everyone settled down a bit, Arjun asked me, "Hey bro, why didn't I get that shiny light stuff till now? Seems like my dad is a bit embarrassed to claim me or what?" he laughed a little, but I understood that he was eager. He had told me that his mother was a mortal, and was of Indo-American descent, which gave him an interesting name: Arjun Armstrong. I realised he tried to make his question humorous, but he seemed a bit hurt too." Don't worry man, the guy gods are a bit slow to react. I already knew that he wasn't a Big Three kid, or else we would have realised his power, but somehow, I found it impossible to place him. He didn't exactly have any attributes which could help pinpoint at any particular god. Perhaps a minor god maybe? I wasn't sure. After the incident with the Kanes, that I and Annabeth had (4 days after the end of the Giant war, we hadn't told anyone about it, though.), I didn't want any more weirdness in my life. But I hoped Arjun's father claims him soon. It pained me whenever I saw unclaimed campers head to the Hermes cabin.

After sacrificing some food to the gods and getting really stuffed up with tasty blue muffins, I was ready to hit the bunk, but before any of us could leave the pavilion, we saw a plume of flames and a slightly unsteady beating of metallic wings.

"Holy Shit!" Arjun exclaimed as an all too familiar dragon roared in response.

;)

**A/N: You know who is gonna come now right? And don't worry, Arjun is no random new son of Poseidon, he is…let's say…more interesting character, which is going to blow your minds!**

**And his father is someone you cannot imagine, but I'm sure you will like this first twist.**


	2. Captain Mcshizzle

**A/N: It's been almost a year since this story was put up, and finally I have decided to put up the second chapter. xD All thanks to the amazingly inspiring people on here, most importantly, Lmb111514, whose stories have made me wish to return to writing. Anyway, I hope this story progresses the way I want to and people like it.**

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: Uncle Rick, can I own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or the Heroes of Olympus series?**

**Rick: Nope, kid.**

**Me: Nuuuuuuuuuu ;( **

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Gasps of shock, surprise, fear, amazement and joy filled the air, as most of the campers, who didn't recognize the huge dragon ran away from where it intended to land, the pavilion.

I, on the other hand, laughed gleefully, running towards the metallic dragon, which seemed to be slightly damaged in some parts, stray wires sticking out of his throat, his wings sparking every time he flapped them, and numerous dents all over his body, but the gleam in his shining ruby eyes confirmed that he was alright.

I saw Jason literally flying up to the dragon, not caring for his spectacles which fell off from his nose, while pulling Piper along, smiling and saying something that was too softly said, to be heard over the strong gusts created by the wings of the dragon.

Annabeth came from her table, as we jogged up to the dragon, which seemed to be settling down while all the other campers gazed at the scene warily.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Malcolm holding back Gloria, who wanted to know why we seemed so happy on seeing the dragon while the Stoll brothers were calming down Arjun, who was clearly going crazy with all the events of the day.

The dragon was now lying down, as Chiron trotted up to us, as we saw one, no, two figures alight from the dragon.

" All hail, the destroyer of Gaia, one of the prophecy of Seven, the fire wielder, the son of Hephaestus, Leo Valdez!" announced Chiron to the campers, to which, the dragon, who indeed was Festus, roared and shot a plume of flames into the night sky.

"Thanks but you forgot to add, the Supreme Commander of the Argo II, Captain McShizzle, oof—" Leo was stopped short as Jason and Piper tackled him, knocking the breath out of his scrawny body.

I reached him and noticed that he had slight injuries, his clothes were covered in grease and burns, and his hair was wild and stuck out in all directions- in short, he was in quite a good condition, keeping in mind the fact that he was supposed to be dead.

Then I saw the person behind him and I couldn't help but gulp in fear of what might happen.

I pulled Leo into a hug, as Jason and Piper finally let him go, and whispered in his ears, " You got her out of her prison, huh? I am really glad you did this, but dude you're gonna get me killed by your lady there" I pointed at the girl behind him, "and my Wise Girl here." I pointed to Annabeth who smiled and petted Festus while watching us talk, waiting for her turn to hug Leo.

"Don't worry man, I have been practicing her introduction to all of you for months now. All that time being MIA really helped." Leo laughed and tried to reassure me, but I pointed out to him,

"It's only been a week since you've been missing." I said, running my hand through my hair nervously, as I glanced towards the girl behind him, to which he looked at me in dismay.

"Oh hell no! Chica, your Ogygian time really screwed me up bad!" Leo whined.

"Had I been missing for a few months, the treatment I would have received would be so much more royal!" he continued complaining, as the girl who now came forward and punched him on the shoulder scolded him, but with a smile, as he acted as if he was hurt by the punch, " You ungrateful little devil! Look how worried they were! Now apologise." She said sternly, as the smile stayed on her face.

I could never obviously forget her.

Those almond-shaped eyes.

That beautifully braided hair.

The simple, yet attractive grace in each of her movements.

And the smile that I had once woken up to, when I had drained myself out by a stunt that made one of the most terrible monsters to ever exist to be free.

Yes, Leo had kept his promise.

He succeeded where I failed.

Leo Valdez, had returned, with a girl that I knew truly loved him, and was perfect for him.

Leo Valdez had returned with _Calypso_.

"Calypso I—" I started hesitantly.

"No need to apologise, Perseus. Leo here, has explained to me everything, and I forgive you. I hope you and Annabeth have a blissful life together, and you remain a loyal and caring boyfriend to her," then she smirked and added, "And hopefully be more responsible than this idiot that I love!" punching Leo again as he whined.

Annabeth hugged Leo tightly and looked at both of us and smiled, "I'm glad to see the way you guys handled this situation, you both should be proud of yourselves." And turned and kissed me softly on my lips, earning a snide remark from Travis about no big event happening in the Greek world without us kissing.

I blushed and kissed her back as Leo went and introduced Calypso to the others, as the Hephaestus campers swarmed around him and Festus, deciding to take Festus away for repairs.

All the other campers, now calm and happy, came closer, and the new ones, who had heard tales of the great Leo Valdez looked at him in awe, as he puffed up his chest and started talking about his limitless awesomeness earning him fans all over the place, again getting punched, but also kissed by Calypso.

_Leo has returned. _I thought.

Things were slowly getting better, and after so many agonizing days; from the battles on the Argo II to the depths of Tartarus, which still give me nightmares that make me wake up screaming, I was sure everything would be okay soon.

Surely the Fates can't be so cruel that they would put us all into danger yet again?

"Damn.." I cursed as I tried to smile as I saw Jason scouring the fields, realizing only now that his spectacles were gone. "I think I just jinxed us again." I muttered, as I hoped that wasn't the case.

Then, as Festus was taken away to the secret Bunker 9 and everyone assembled around the campfire, Mr. D cleared his throat and said, "Alright kiddos, we have our Leroy back, now it's past curfew and you all should be heading back to –" a huge flash in the sky stopped him short, followed by an earsplitting thunder.

Chiron seemed visibly disturbed and looked towards Leo.

" I swear to the gods I didn't do anything to piss off Zeus, except maybe flying Festus in his domain without an authorization of me being a pilot or him being any authorized sort of flying object!" Leo protested as a few more people glared at him.

"Whatever may be the case, something is definitely wrong, and father has ordered me to return to Olympus." stated Mr. D grimly, as he flashed out immediately, as we all looked away.

Rain began to fall, and across the pavilion, I could hear even the sea in turmoil, as huge waves seemed to be crashing onto the beach. Seems like Dad isn't too happy either, I thought.

"Take the campers to their cabins immediately." Ordered Chiron to all the counselors.

Arjun wanted to choose his own cabin, but after Connor and Travis explained him the camp rules, he agreed to move to the Hermes cabin.

"Let me talk to Chiron, he might be knowing something about this sudden outburst that Zeus is showing." Annabeth whispered to me, and kissed my cheek, as she informed Malcolm to take the Athena campers away and arranged for a bed for Gloria.

" There. I guess I DID jinx us again.." I groaned and walked towards my cabin, the Poseidon cabin, whose only occupant was I.

I saw Jason flying Piper into her cabin. Leo was carried back to his cabin, being cheered, although it was a bit muted due to the sudden change in weather.

He was happy to receive all the attention, but was pretty annoyed at the fact that Calypso wasn't allowed to sleep in his cabin, and was rather given a room in the Big House.

(Hopefully not the previous Oracle's room!)

I stayed near the door of my cabin, until I saw Annabeth returning with an expression that made me sure that even Chiron had no idea what had happened and she was racking her brains to think what could have caused this bad weather.

I smiled, gazing at her thoughtful face, as she hurriedly went into her cabin.

She looked really cute when she was thinking.

Actually, she looked really cute always.

With a sigh, I returned back to bed, wondering about the events of the day.

Sure, I was happy, insanely happy, for the return of our Latino Human Torch, but the other stuff, mainly the freak weather, and the mystery of the godly parent of the guy named Arjun, unsettled me.

I knew, it might be nothing, he could be the son of some minor god, or maybe someone like Hermes, but there was something about him that felt strange.

He seemed to be a nice guy, don't get me wrong about that, but there was definitely more to him than what met the eyes.

"Maybe he'll be claimed tomorrow, at the formal celebration.." I muttered to myself, but I suddenly realized, if Zeus was mad, the celebration might be cancelled too! Which would really suck, as I was eagerly looking forward to an Olympian size party.

As I changed to my PJs (get it? PJ inPjs? No? Awww damn!) and fell into the bunker bed, face first onto the pillow, I decided to ask Annabeth tomorrow, for the significance of the name: "Arjun".

I had heard it somewhere, but I wasn't sure what it meant or what it was.

Slowly, I drifted off to sleep, as my mind soon entered into another nightmare from the realms of Tartarus, as reminders of Bob, Damasen and what I had almost done to Akhylys seemed to pierce through my soul.

The next morning, I woke up, as I glanced at my clock realizing that I was late for breakfast. Just as I had freshened up and put on the orange camp t-shirt and a pair of skinny blue jeans, a scream erupted from somewhere close to the pavilion, and I bolted out of my cabin, with Riptide in my pocket.

**I know this chapter was kinda dull, but this was more of a filler, to gear up the story to what is actually going to happen. This was only to bring back our funny little elf, Leo Valdez back into the game.**

**Next chapter: Who is Arjun? Who was screaming? Why was Zeus mad?**

**And most importantly (according to Percy), is the party gonna be there or would it be canceled?**

**Till then, cheers guys. **

**I hope you all liked the chapter and would care to add a review or something if possible. xD**

**I will try to update asap.**


	3. This newbie is on fire!

**A/N: So I must say, I am trying my hardest to push this story forward and get things happening soon, because it seems quite a few of you amazing guys out there are actually reading this crazy attempt of a story xD ( I see you :- before you can even think of shadow travelling away!)**

**Anyway, as a newbie begging for attention, do leave a few reviews or suggestions, and even criticism to aid me in writing better stuff for you guys.**

**Without further ado, let's go into chapter 3!**

PERCY'S P.O.V. (I know last two chapters were from his pov, but don't worry, I'll change that soon!)

I rushed out to the pavilion, as I saw the campers who were just going to settle down on their tables, frozen in fear and shock, gazing at the area close to the table of the Hephaestus cabin kids. The Hephaestus cabin, on the other hand, had scrambled away from what seemed to be the source of all the bewilderment, staying closer to the Apollo and Hermes kids.

I saw Annabeth looking towards me in shock as she came running from her table to my side as I approached carefully to the table for the Hephaestus kids.

" I swear this is totally not my fault! I didn't do anything!" Leo protested loudly while holding a rather shaken Calypso close to his chest.

Then I noticed, standing next to them, was **someone**.

Someone whose entire body was covered in flames, dancing around in wild arcs, whose heat I could feel from even 20 feet away. I would not have noticed that there was a person inside the small inferno, if it hadn't been for the silhouette just barely visible. Gloria came running up to us, as I noticed she seemed really worried, and was on the verge of freaking out. Will and Nico, who had seemed to be close to the scene, and had perhaps seen from where the flaming dude had come from, looked at us in horror, as they pulled Leo and Calypso back. Perhaps being immune to the fire helped Leo to be able to deal with the searing heat, as he chose to stay closer, trying to manipulate the flames away from the person's body. Come to think of it, this was the first time I saw him actually manipulating flames around him, like I manipulated water, which made my ADHD brain wonder if I could conjure water on my fingertips like he could do with fire.

Shaking my head, I flinched, as the flames just got brighter and more powerful, pushing Leo away, and breaking his concentration, which he needed to control the flames.

" What's happening here?" I asked everybody present, as Gloria stuttered in response, " A-A-Arjun…He is in the middle of the flames! H-He suddenly erupted in flames!"

My mind went into overdrive.

Arjun! I barely knew him! What if the flames hurt him, or gods forbid, kill him? I had no idea about his mortal family and in an act of desperation, I let my senses expand, as I felt a source of water, about 200 feet underground, which joined the creek in the forest. Yelling out and moving my hands in the direction of the flaming body of the undetermined camper, pulling the water out of the ground in the form of geysers and blasted the flames with jets of cold, bubbling water.

Steam bellowed, and for a second, I thought maybe I could save Arjun after all. But the very next moment, the flames surged outward, forming a sphere of fire around Arjun's body, with such force that it pushed all of us back with the heat wave it generated.

"We were just talking about Festus, and some other random stuff, and Will was showing him around, when his eyes rolled back into his head and he erupted into flames!" Leo exclaimed, and I nodded. I knew for sure that Leo hadn't done it.

Firstly, he would never hurt a fellow demi-god like this; he was a nice guy, after all.

Secondly, I didn't believe he could ever conjure flames that radiated so much energy and power.

I gazed at Annabeth, whose stormy gray eyes seemed to be trying to figure out what was happening in front of us. After my attempt to douse the flames with water, no one dared to make a move, fearing that the ball of flames, which looked like a mini-Sun, would become even bigger and deadly.

"Jason, do you know any god who could be related to fire, other than Hephaestus? Something tells me that this fire is beyond even the control of any child of Hephaestus." Inquired Annabeth, as I stood close to her, in a protective stance. Jason being the Pontifex Maximus, had met gods that we didn't even knew existed in Greek and Roman mythology (no offense to them), and could perhaps know if there was some minor pyromaniac god out there who loved setting his kids on fire.

"Nope, I don't recall anyone who could have caused this, besides, no minor god can ever be capable of such power, it's an amazement to me that it hasn't burned all of us down…yet." Stated Jason, scrutinizing the situation, making Piper stand behind him, which obviously annoyed her, as she wanted to help Arjun right away, in whatever way possible, judging by her expression.

"Annabeth!" I urged her to look towards me, as her blonde curls fell across her face as she shook her head in confusion. She hated not being able to understand what was going on, but right now, that wasn't the priority. We needed to save Arjun from this mysterious fire, unless he was already…No. I couldn't let that happen!

"Let's not think about who his godly parent is, or else the only place we could use that information would be in the making of his shroud!" I pleaded with her, which made her breathe sharply, and she asked Chiron what was happening, who had trotted up to us. I noticed his horse tail flicking around nervously. Or perhaps there were just too many flies in the Camp who had taken an interest in his "back door business". Sadly, that wasn't the case, as I saw his forehead crease with worry.

"Honestly, Annabeth, I do not know, it isn't something that I've encountered in several thousand years." Chiron admitted, which shocked me. Whenever we faced any problem, Chiron always knew how to deal with it. He had been alive, teaching heroes from the ancient times, and had seen and experienced almost everything that the world of the gods had to offer. Him not knowing what we were dealing with, was certainly freaking me out. And it all had to happen with Arjun, the poor guy, as I flinched, gazing at the orb of fire pulsating in front of us. He was new to all this, he was scared and confused. It reminded me of the time when I was 12 and had arrived at camp. I wanted to make his life at camp nicer than my early days, and wanted to help him adjust to the fact that the Greek (and Roman, as Jason would love to point out) gods, were real. It pained me that I had failed to protect him, and now couldn't even dare to touch the fire that imprisoned him, wary about what it may result in. It also annoyed me that he was the only camper to yet be undetermined, despite the gods having promised to be more responsible.

"Look!" exclaimed Connor, bringing me out of my musings, pointing out to the ground around the flaming ball. It was covered in dry grass, slowly swaying in the warm breeze generated by the fire above them. Then, realization struck me, as Travis confirmed my suspicions.

"The grass around the fire is still unscathed! That's not possible, unless—" he stopped, gulping and looking at Annabeth and me, to confirm what he was thinking.

Annabeth nodded, slowly slipping her hand into mine and holding it for comfort, which almost made me smile. "The fire is not normal, it seems to be magical by origin." She stated, frowning, as she tried to figure out more about what exactly was happening.

"Then we need to save him!" Leo concluded, looking at Jason, who I guess, could maybe help me with strong winds and whirlwinds to blow out the fire, but I was skeptical. Like Annabeth said, the fire was no normal one. "Grover! Can you find out if he's still alive inside? Maybe the nature spirits can feel him better than us, considering the fact that the grass isn't burning." Calypso, who finally seemed to be out of her shock, pleaded to the messenger of Pan, and my best friend.

After a few moments, he nodded in confirmation. "He is, but I don't know for how much longer can he remain so." Nico nodded too, confirming that he hadn't felt Arjun's spirit depart from his body. Not yet. But we didn't know how long he could last.

"Chiron, we need to—" I was cut short, as a dull boom emanated from the orb of flames, and it collapsed, forming a flaming silhouette around Arjun's body, which then suddenly broke into several plumes of fire, and spiraled and rose up in arcs of flames, twisting and turning around him, revealing him to be unscathed, but his eyes were closed. Just as the flames reached the top of his head, with the sound of a firecracker exploding, the flames began displaying gigantic patterns, like a painting of fire being unfolded right on top of him. Just as suddenly it had all started, the flames disappeared, seemingly entering the 15-year-old Indo-American boy's skull, as his eyes opened. In place of his eyes were glowing balls of fire, but they soon faded back to his deep brown eyes, which looked at all of us in surprise, as he stumbled to his knees. I rushed and caught him, making him sit by the table for the Hephaestus cabin, and gave him a glass of water to drink, not caring for the fact that an undetermined kid whose body was steaming and seemed as hot as if he had a fever, was not allowed to sit at the table meant for the sons and daughters of Hephaestus.

All the campers slowly began whispering among themselves, with Leo, with his big mouth, voiced everyone's major question:

"What the heck just happened?"

Arjun smiled weakly, and with a hoarse voice, replied, "You tell me! I have no idea; I was just talking to you guys and then boom! I'm on my knees and Percy helping me up. Maybe I blacked out or something?" he smirked, which was funny as I was sure once we told him what had happened in between the two things he remembered, he would surely freak out. But for now, I was happy that he was alive, which didn't seem possible, but I wasn't complaining.

Chiron sighed, as he trotted up to the stage, as the rest of my friends slowly came closer to Arjun and me, while the rest of the campers glanced warily.

"Cabin counselors! We need to meet right away for a meeting regarding the present happenings. Arjun, you must accompany the Stoll brothers and come to the meeting too." By the end of the announcement, Chiron seemed to have aged a million years, which worried me.

"But what exactly happened Chiron?" somebody asked from the members of the Hecate cabin.

He sighed and looked directly at me and admitted,"Arjun has been claimed."

At that statement, the entire pavilion erupted in chaos.

"Claimed?"

"By whom?"

"Which god has his symbol as a glowing orb of fire?"

"Why did the flames encase his entire body?"

Amongst all that, perhaps nobody noticed, except me, as Chiron whispered, "By a god we have no idea about." It scared me, to be honest, as I looked at the surprised teen who looked at all of us, flinching when people gave him fearful and scared glances.

I felt sorry for him, but also felt intrigued about his godly parent. Annabeth pulled me along, as we slowly walked towards the Big House, to meet at the rec room aka war council.

"Come on," she whispered, as she began telling me what Gloria had mentioned about Arjun earlier when they were in the cabin.

ANNABETH'S P.O.V.

"She and him weren't exactly like really close friends, the satyr who had been sent to get her just found then close by at their school's cafeteria." I explained to Percy as we trudged towards the Big House. I held his hand tighter, worried about what was happening, and the confusion we all faced.

With a start, I realized that Percy had been late to breakfast and hadn't eaten anything, but one look at his determined expression made me sure that he would never agree to come late to the meeting just so that he could grab a bite. He had known Arjun only for a day, but was already fiercely protective towards him, like an elder brother.

_Seaweed Brain_, I thought. _Your fatal flaw really is something that is amazing and annoying at the same time. Just like you._

I almost smiled, but then continued, "She said he was quite a smart guy at school, but I'm sure he's no son of Athena, or else mom would have informed me." To which Percy nodded, and Jason, who had been walking with Piper, just behind us, added, "That much is evident, anything else that can help us figure out the current happening?" he enquired, while looking around for the said demigod.

Although it was just out of concern for him, it would still be awkward if we seemed to be launching an FBI enquiry on him. Luckily, he was a good distance away from us, as the Stoll brothers tried to make him relax by saying some jokes, but I could read their emotions. They were pretty shaken up themselves.

"Gloria couldn't say anything more than that, except that she had seen him performing in a band in front of some people from their grade." Not helpful information, but I knew it could help in easing the tension, which lay heavy on the atmosphere.

"Oh wow, that kid is a rocker huh?" smiled Percy, but then added seriously again, "But still, that doesn't explain what we saw today."

I nodded as we entered the rec room.

Clarisse walked up to her chair and immediately sat up with her boots on the table, took out her hunting knife and began sharpening it. She was really annoyed with how things had turned out, as I knew for sure that she had planned on picking on Arjun with some of her siblings. But with what had happened just now, I knew that she wouldn't dare to.

Slowly, the rest of the people came in, and all the seats were taken. Arjun sat on a stool beside Chiron, who was in his wheelchair contraption, in order to fit in, to the low heighted ceiling of the room.

Percy sat beside me, as he wrapped one arm across my shoulders, gently caressing them, to make me relaxed. He definitely was the most adorable guy ever, even if he was such a Seaweed Brain sometimes. I smiled, but then my mind was clouded with worry again, as I saw Chiron's serious expression.

Once everyone was seated, he began, " As I had mentioned earlier, I believe Arjun here, has been claimed. But by whom, is something that I can't seem to be able to answer for sure. The amount of power that radiated from his being is something that I haven't felt since several millennia."

I saw Arjun shrink into his seat, blushing and avoiding eye contact. He apparently didn't like receiving attention, which was something I respected.

After Chiron had debriefed everyone about what had happened, which was certainly helpful, as the Indo-American demigod seemed to be blissfully unaware of the flaming orb that had imprisoned him, just a while ago.

"Hey bro, can you please tell us what your name signifies? Somehow I feel like it holds some importance and I think it just might help us figure out stuff." Percy said suddenly. It surprised me about him knowing anything about the importance of the name "Arjun". I had read about it somewhere, but I couldn't exactly remember what it meant.

I screamed in frustration, internally, of course. I hated not knowing. It felt annoying, but I waited for Arjun to tell us, as he blushed an even deeper shade of red and began," I-It's the name of one of the Pandavas, the five brothers who fought the epic war in the story of Mahabharata, against their 100 evil cousins, the Kouravas. He was the best warrior with the bow and arrow, and my mom named me after him as he was a great hero and—"

I added in between, suddenly remembering about reading the epic story from Indian mythology, "And he was said to be a blessing of Lord Indra, to his mother, Kunti, who had prayed for children. Lord Indra was the king of heaven, lord of skies, lightning, rains and thunder…"

"Just like Zeus, it seems." Katie noted.

I nodded grimly, as a fear started creeping up at the back of my mind.

_After the Kanes, could there still be more to expect from the world of gods?_ I didn't want to know; we had enough gods to worry about already.

"That's all okay, but how is that supposed to help us? It's just a name." pointed out Nico as he tried to push back his long black hair from his eyes.

"Yeah," added Arjun nervously, "It's just due to my Indian roots." He blushed, as I could feel him almost wanting to add: _Please can we change the topic to something other than me?_

Before anyone could say anything else, Chiron looked at us gravely and began, " The Indian Devas, or the gods under Lord Indra, were an amazing lot, during the ancient Vedic times. They almost disappeared from the face of the Earth though, fading away, as their places of worship were replaced by those of the higher gods, like the trinity of the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer."

The way he stated this, I felt like he personally knew them, or had heard about them.

"If the train of thought that Percy's curiosity has brought up is correct, then we must prepare ourselves for revelations that may forever change the world as we know it." Added Chiron grimly, as I saw Percy blush, then flinch beside me, as Arjun looked at us confused and scared.

"You are not saying…" Clarisse narrowed her eyes as her dagger dug into the Ping-Pong table.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions though!" Leo exclaimed and tried to look at Calypso to support him, but her expression remained neutral, as I could almost read her lips saying: "The power…It is not Greek, nor Roman, but then…"

Everyone looked at Chiron and Arjun for answers, which seemed to make the 15-year-old boy even more nervous as he shrunk into his seat, looking down.

But then, he looked up, with determination evident in his eyes.

"If all of these stories regarding gods and other stuff is true, and if you all think my father is an Indian god, one of the Devas, then judging by what happened to me earlier, there is only one name that I can think of…"

"Lord Agni…" Chiron said, his voice almost a whisper.

**A/N: Whew! That was the longest chapter till date! 3k+ words! Anyway, I hope you guys like the first twist in my story. ;) There's a lot more fun stuff waiting to be revealed.**

**Till then, I'll let you wonder about:**

**Who was Agni?**

**Why was Zeus mad the other night? Does he know about Arjun already?**

**What does it hold for our demigods in the future?**

**Reviews and criticism would always be helpful!**

**Till then, have a nice day(s) and take care!**


	4. The Blessing of Olympus

**A/N: Hey guys, back with chapter 4! It would certainly be helpful if you guys could leave some reviews, things are going to get messed up soon, and ideas and criticism from you all would certainly help me in improving the story.**

**Anyway, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like the amazingly awesome, mind-blowing, savior of our kind, sarcasm supreme, Rick Riordan? Unfortunately, nope.**

LEO'S P.O.V. (Didn't see that coming? ;) )

"Lord Agni…" said Chiron in a low, hoarse whisper, fiddling a bit with the wheels of his wheelchair, which made me wonder about the mechanisms that might have aided in squeezing in his horsey hindquarters into the small space. While building the Argo II, I had tried to sneak into the Big House to figure out about it when he roamed the camp in his towering centaur form, but someone or the other (I know, they totally miss my awesomeness!) would inform Chiron about me being missing, and he soon figured out what I was up to.

Needless to say, I am not allowed to be near the wheelchair whenever it's not in use. Well, it was worth a try!

Calypso punched me in the arm, bringing me back to reality. Damn, this girl knows me so well, she realised that I was zoning out! I know love isn't exactly my thing, and emotions are something that I am not really good at, but I love this crazy, cute beauty, and I'm lucky enough to know that she loves me back. Don't tell her I said that though, or else she'll forget that she's dating the hottest guy in the Univ—owww!

" Damn Sunshine, seems like I'm more like your punching bag than your awesome boyfriend!" I whispered to her, playfully acting hurt. But then I noticed everyone looking at us and Calypso blushed and face palmed.

"Umm… You can pay attention to me later, I give autographs for free, don't worry! But I guess we were talking about some pyromaniac gods?" I asked nervously.

"Look who's talking." Smirked Will, and Chiron just shook his head and continued, as I saw Percy break into his trademark lopsided grin.

Well, at least, he isn't frowning anymore. The poor guy thinks everything and everyone are his responsibility, which I think is totally cool, but it can get to him sometimes.

"But it's all speculation, and a pretty wild guess, to even consider the existence of gods beyond the Greek Pantheon!" protested Katie, followed by Clovis, the cabin leader of the Hypnos cabin muttering "Preposterous!" and falling asleep again, hitting the table hard with his heavy head, which should have hurt, but he seemed too sleepy to realize the pain.

"We thought so, earlier, but then you met us, the Romans. Although yes, the Roman gods are just manifestations of their Greek counterparts, but we are still different." Pointed out Jason, while adjusting his glasses, which were crooked and loose, due to him dropping them earlier, in his amazement to be fortunate enough to see my awesomeness return. He probably thought that he had gotten rid of my annoying butt this time!

"But this is something totally different, and we need to analyze the situation more, rather than jump to conclusions" commented Annabeth. With the stormy look in her grey eyes and the way Percy caressed her shoulders, it seemed that her mental gears were running too hard, and she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anyone of us. "I guess that's true," Chiron finally relented, as I saw the poor newbie, what was his name again? Yeah, Arjun. He was blushing furiously, looking as red as the fire that had engulfed him earlier. Seems like he didn't handle this much attention well. Couldn't blame him though, I might have ended up saying stupid jokes out of nervousness myself, if I was in his position. Him seeming to be related to fire made me feel like he was this brother that I could have, but then again, something was really weird about him.

"For now, this meeting is adjourned. All counselors please go back to lead your cabins to the activities listed out for today. Any questions?" Chiron finally announced.

"What about the party at Olympus? I mean, we got Leo back, and we have to tell this news to Frank, Hazel and the rest of the Roman demigods! That alone is quite a big reason to celebrate." Percy asked excitedly. For a 17 and a half-year-old guy, he was still a kid at heart, I thought.

Chiron frowned, and it seemed Percy wasn't going to receive any good news from him. "The party has been…delayed for a while, due to unforeseen circumstances, so we would have to wait. You can Iris- message the Romans if you want to, though."

Yeah, they'll love to know about the guy who blew up their beloved Senate House, I thought, and smirked. Knowing whatever little I knew about the Romans, I knew it would take more than just "sacrificing" myself to defeat Gaea to win their trust.

As we all walked out of the Big House, with me joking and fooling around with Calypso and the others, I couldn't help but feel pity for the newbie. He had perhaps apologized a billion times as he felt that the cancellation of the party was also his fault. He finally stopped though, after Percy and Jason gave him a bro hug, and with smiles on their faces, solemnly promised to drench him in water and toss him in the air if he dared to apologize again. Sigh, these boys are making Uncle Leo proud!

All of us went along with our activities, and I showed Calypso around the hidden Bunker 9, as she helped me make a few "technical advancements" in Festus, which others liked to refer as "untried and untested weapons of mass destruction", but trust me, I've got everything in control! When we returned, hand in hand, I saw everyone still engaged in work.

Jason was attending to his duties, guiding Annabeth in the plans of constructing new temples, shrines and cabins for the various gods, while Piper had taken the responsibility for directing both the Aphrodite and Athena cabin in their aerial combat activities.

Nico and Will were surprisingly hanging out together, as the Apollo and Hecate cabin were practicing archery. Lou Ellen, the cabin counselor of the Hecate cabin didn't seem as odd as I had expected her to be, and was laughing at some jokes that Will said (and Nico couldn't get them, so he spent his time scowling!).

Percy was teaching combat using swords to the Hermes and Iris cabin, and it seemed Arjun was doing quite well on his first time. It was actually fun to watch the classic disarming technique, something that Luke Castellan had taught to Percy, almost 6 years ago, being done on almost all the campers; no one stood a chance against Percy. Arjun tried hard, and for a moment it seemed he just might disarm Percy, but with his years of experience, Percy swung out, which made Arjun to stumble in surprise, and then disarmed him in one swift motion, as the sword clattered to the ground. Percy then offered his hand and picked him up, giving him pat on his back and appreciated his efforts.

"That is why, he is a leader." Said Calypso, as she smiled and took my hands, "and I'm glad you have such amazing friends here, Leo."

I winked and kissed her lips, as she gave a look of surprise, but then kissed back.

"Next time, give me a warning, okay lover boy?" she smiled and playfully punched my shoulder…again. I think I should change my name to "Leo 'her punching bag' Valdez". Sounds good, doesn't it?

"Alright chica, but I know how much you love surprises. Almost as much as you love me!" I smirked and wrapped my arms around her, as we walked towards the pavilion.

The conch shell blew, signaling it was lunchtime.

"Race you to the pavilion. If I win, you're sitting on my lap during the entire lunch!" I laughed and ran off, as I saw her blush and then begin running, but it seemed like she might not be sad if she lost too.

ARJUN'S P.O.V. (Well, it's time we got to know what's going on in his mind!)

Everyone was laughing and eating lunch, chatting and fooling around. The Hermes kids were planning pranks on the Demeter cabin, while the potential targets shot wary glances. The rivalry between the cabins was mainly based on the apparent enmity between one of the twins who had been showing me around, Travis, and the Demeter cabin counselor, Katie Gardner, although Connor claimed that they both secretly loved each other. You know, typical teenage gossip stuff, but it was funny to see their expressions, whenever they crossed paths.

The food was perfect too, I could get whatever I wanted, and I went in for a nice burger and some fruit juice.

All in all, I was supposed to feel happy at this place, but to be honest, all I felt was:

Frustration…and confusion, sadness, loneliness, and whatever other weird feelings, which I couldn't seem to be able to explain in words. Sure, Percy, Jason, the Stolls and the others had made me feel like home, they were amazing friends to have. Even the girl named Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend, who though seemed intimidating when she had that thoughtful expression, was really nice to me whenever we talked. Piper and Leo were really cool people too, but somehow, perhaps due to all the weird things happening, I didn't feel like I _belonged_ here.

Gloria, who at the moment was in a rather animated discussion with her siblings, one of whom I knew as Malcolm, had been claimed by the goddess of battle strategy and wisdom, Athena, as soon as we had reached camp, while I, on the other hand, was supposedly claimed by some random god whom these people didn't even think was Greek!

Think about it, first these people convince me that the Greek gods are real, and are currently living in the United States, and say that my dad, who was supposed to be missing all these years, was actually very much alive and is a god, and then they say, "Hey, seems like your dad isn't one of us after all!" I have always been a loner of sorts. I mean, I always have had friends, don't get me wrong, but still, they're always a bit different, they have their own things going, and try as they might, I always ended up being an outcast, although I tried not to show it.

Honestly, even Gloria knew me only as a guy from class (and hopefully thought a bit better of me than those jerks that always seemed to be trying to hit on her!), who just happened to be close by when her satyr (I respect his efforts of actually wearing jeans over all the fur, everyday, especially in the summer!) realised that monsters had detected us. All in all, I guess I had to accept the fact that wherever I ended up going to, be it a new boarding school, or a camp filled with half Greek god kids, I would always be the one who: Just. Doesn't. Fit. In.

Yay.

I was brought out of my musings when Connor clapped my back while laughing, apparently at some joke that another Hermes kid, named Chris Rodriguez had shared, and I tried to smile to show that I had been paying attention.

Soon, lunch ended, and just when Chiron (he is a freaking centaur! How cool is that!) stomped his hoof to get everyone's attention, and announced that we can relax for a while, but just when everybody was going to cheer, a brilliant purple flash lit up the stage where Chiron stood, and there beside him, was the camp director, Mr. D.(or Dionysus, the wine dude).

"Hello brats! All of you are required for a meeting at Olympus in two hours. Both camps are required to be present with full attendance, there's some…stuff that dad wants to talk about." He drily stated.

"So will we have our party after all?" questioned Percy, expectantly, but I saw Annabeth shake her head and look in my direction. I knew what she was thinking:

_What if these Greek gods had found out that I wasn't Greek at all? What if our assumptions were true?_

"Haha, I wish, Peter Johnson." Smirked Mr.D., whom by now nobody bothered to correct, "It's a serious meeting, regarding something that Zeus wants to show you all, and there was some… debate regarding it, but you all will find out about it soon."

So hopefully, the meeting wasn't about me. But then what? I guess everyone was wondering the same thing, as they trailed off to their cabins to take a bit rest, before having to get ready for the travel to Olympus, which till now I had no idea where it was, except the fact that it was supposed to be at New York, as campers had told me stories of the Second Titan War that took place there. It was rather impressive to imagine what a simple and easygoing teen like Percy could do, and that heightened my respect for him. And not only him, but also everyone else I heard about; even the misguided son of Hermes, who betrayed everyone, but in the end, proved that he was a hero: Luke Castellan.

I wished I could just leave all this craziness behind and go home. My mom must be in her apartment, in Manhattan, which was quite close to where we were heading, if I heard the Stolls correctly. They were explaining to a 10-year-old son of Hermes that Olympus was on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, and could only be accessed by a special card.

_Bullshit_, I thought, as I entered the Hermes cabin and sat on the lower bed of the bunk bed I was assigned to. I just wanted to go home, but I couldn't, as Chiron had explained mom where I was, and although it didn't seem like she would buy the idea, she agreed with me staying here at camp.

Although I had wanted her to disagree and come and take me away, I began to feel as if my mind was slowly accepting this theory. I had chosen to believe, or at least go along with whatever they were saying so far. Even the 600th floor craziness.

Shaking my head, I played with the idea of either sleeping, or going out and practice with the dummies. Percy had given me an average sized Greek sword from the armory. The blade started wide at the base, then narrowed, and again broadened out, only to narrow down to the tip. The blade was about a foot long, with a hilt whose ends curved upwards in the direct of the tip, almost forming a U at the base of the sword, a modification made by the Hephaestus cabin to help make the disarming technique easier. The handle was fairly simple in design, and long enough to make holding it with both hands easy.

Thinking about the sword, and also due to the fact that I was feeling incredibly restless, I decided to head to the arena and practice. Hopefully that daughter of Ares, Clarisse la Rue won't be around, so that I can be at peace. She's been trying to pick on me, but I've always had enough stuff going on to be able to avoid that till now.

On reaching the arena, I saw somebody else was there too, hacking away mercilessly at the dummies. On coming closer, I realised that it was Percy.

"Percy!" I hollered, and he turned towards me and broke into a grin, replacing his frown that had creased his brow earlier. He was probably thinking about the meeting at Olympus, I guessed. Sitting amongst the trees, I spotted Annabeth and Gloria, who seemed to be debating about the architectural style that the temple of some random god should be, probably helping Jason in building all those shrines that he had promised he'll get built. They both looked at me and smiled and waved. Waving back, I smiled at Percy and added, "Looks like you had the same idea as me, Perce."

"I guess you could say that! Just decided to let these couple of hours go by quick, and figure out what Zeus is up to now. You know, he has never called all the demigods to Olympus for a meeting. Only he knows how much time it would take to get all of us up there via the elevator. Oh wait, I don't think he's figured it out yet either!" Percy jokingly stated, although I could figure out the hidden tension behind his words.

We began sparring, with Percy deciding to go easy on me, which made me feel embarrassed, but I knew it was for my own good. He was supposed to be the best swordsman at camp, with only Jason standing any chance against him. Nevertheless, I gave him everything I had, gaining the upper hand sometimes too.

But finally, he knocked my sword right out of my hands and pointed his sword, Riptide, right at my neck.

"Nice fighting Arjun, you lasted quite long for a rookie!" he cheered me up as I grumbled and picked up my sword. "He seems to be a natural, almost seeming as if he has been trained before. He held up against you for 20 minutes straight!" Annabeth smiled and pointed out, and only then I realised how much time had passed.

~~~~Around 2 hours later~~~~~~~~

_Holy shit_, I thought.

Mr.D. had flashed all of us straight from camp to the throne room. Although the experience was extremely nauseating, I was able to fight the urge to puke. Some other campers weren't so lucky though, as quite a few ran off to the bathrooms immediately, while I stood awed at what I was seeing.

We were in a gigantic room, with a dome of white marble and gold on top, which was held by columns that stood, equally spaced around the periphery. In front of us were 12 huge thrones, each, different from the other. As Percy and the Stolls pointed out to me, I recognized them to be the thrones of the 12 Olympians, who presently materialized in their seats, scaring the hell out of me with their towering forms and glowing auras. I was surprised to see Mr. D, who had been standing beside us moments ago, now sat on his throne, which seemed to be made of bushes (which would suck for him if it had thorns!), also about 20 feet in height.

But the most powerful beings of all seemed to be at the very front, a dude in a pin-striped suit, who Jason said was Zeus, a woman beside him in a white flowing gown and hair braided with peacock feathers and gold strings; Hera, Annabeth informed me, with her voice dripping with contempt, and another guy, in khaki shorts and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt, whom Percy happily announced was his dad, that is, Poseidon. I quickly identified the rest of the deities, even the one to arrive with his throne at the same time; the throne seeming to be made up of all the shadows of the room, emerging from below the white marble floor, and I knew the god was the lord of the dead and the king of the Underworld, Hades, father of Nico di Angelo.

Jason and Percy's face lit up, as another group of demigods arrived, the Roman equivalent of us (if I could say "us". Seriously, I don't even know where I belong, but let's assume for now that I am with the Greeks, as they've accepted me), led by a girl with eyes that showed her experience, as she gave a guarded smile and hugged Annabeth, and a 6 foot tall Asian looking muscular guy, who literally fainted in happiness (and had to be woken up by two of his legionnaires!) when Leo yelled and hugged him, shouting, "Uncle Leo is alive!"as a girl with curly golden brown hair and a coffee colored skin tone shed tears of happiness, while holding hands with the Asian dude.

"Frank, son of Mars and one of the praetors of New Rome, and my sister, Hazel, the two with Leo" pointed out Nico to me, as I saw Leo introducing Calypso to them, "and that's Reyna, daughter of Bellona, the other praetor, and recently, my adoptive big sis." Nico smiled at the last part as he went to greet the Romans.

Leo was cracking jokes nervously, as he tried to make sure the Romans weren't mad at him still. Apparently, he had been possessed by some ghosts and had blown some important monument of the Romans, but they had chosen to forgive him, after all that he had done in the war with Gaea.

The Romans and Greeks mixed freely, talking and exchanging friendly jibes, as I stood awkwardly looking at the gods, who waited for the teens to settle down, with tense expressions. Whatever was the reason for the meeting, it wasn't exactly good, I realised.

I then noticed that one of the thrones was still empty, but soon, the throne room doors opened, revealing a girl who seemed about 15, but her silver eyes reflected an aura that made me realize that she was older. _Much older._

Following her were about 40 girls, all about the age of 10 to 19, in silver parkas with bows and quivers filled with arrows hung over their shoulders.

"The hunters of Artemis." Stated a girl whose name was Drew, a daughter of Aphrodite, in contempt.

I realised that the silver-eyed girl was Lady Artemis herself, as she took her seat to complete the council, while a girl with a silver tiara, and a Green Day t-shirt under her parka, ran over to Jason and hugged him tightly, "Little brother!" she exclaimed, and I realised that she was the famous daughter of Zeus, Thalia Grace, who then went and hugged Percy and Annabeth, smiling and playfully punching Percy when he joked about her hair which was spiky with dark blue highlights.

When everyone had settled down, with Chiron and a few satyrs acting like chaperones, Zeus cleared his throat, in a deliberate, slow and attention-seeking manner.

"I would like to thank you all for assembling here on such short notice, for the announcement that I have to make," as he stole a nervous glance towards Hera, and continued, "all the gods had hidden their children who hadn't reached camp when the Second Giant War was in full swing, and I am glad to see those half-bloods being rescued and brought in with utmost care." He adjusted his tie, as thunder rumbled overhead.

"Would you please get to the point already? We all know that you don't actually care for any other demigods except your own children." Stated Hades, looking Zeus dead in the eyes. (Pun intended!)

Zeus seethed and it seemed he might start abusing and attacking the god of the Underworld right away, but Percy's dad, Poseidon, stopped him. "Just tell them, brother. All these people aren't here to witness an argument between you and Hades. They've come to hear your announcement."

Zeus nodded, and everyone exchanged mystified glances, and for some reason, Hera looked really displeased. I saw another goddess, whom I assumed was Athena, given the striking similarity in her expressions as Annabeth mutter something, which distinctly felt like she was cursing Zeus for being stupid.

"Well, there was another such demigod, who was hidden away, just after the Second Titan War, and was not brought to Camp Half-Blood due to our inability to contact demigods because of the split personality issues we were facing…." He stated, as everyone gasped, as realization dawned on me what this could mean.

"He has been training, all this time, and for his protection, I gave him the _blessing of Olympus._ He is my son, Alexander Steele!" and all Hades broke lose.

Amidst the entire clamor, Leo got the most obvious question out, " What in the name of Hephaestus is this blessing of Olympus?" and the way in which Annabeth paled didn't seem exactly good.

**A/N: Sooooooooooo? New character! Alexander is going to be something of a surprise, but firstly, what do you guys think is the blessing of Olympus? **

**Do leave reviews to tell me what do you think it means, and also what are your thoughts about the new character, because trust me he's here to cause some major twists in the storyline!**

** Anyway, cookies for those who guess things right, and umm…. for those too who guess something entirely different! Because hey, I love to hear your ideas! **

**Till the next update, take care and stay safe! Have fun everybody, and I hope you like the way the story progresses! Do tell me if any character needs more work to be done, like, am I making anyone too OOC? Thanks again, and I'll try to update the next chapter soon.**

**And guess what, 4k+ words in this chapter! Definitely better than those short first two chapters, I hope! xD**


	5. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: Is this myth? Is this miracle? Or a mixture of both? **

**Finally, (apart from the review that was posted a year ago when I went on hiatus, and another review that kick started me for continuing the story, by the amazing writer and friend, Lmb111514), a review for these new chapters! **

**As it was by a guest, I couldn't really reply back personally, but I guess replying here might as well work, hopefully the reviewer would be seeing this chapter soon!**

**So here's the review:**

**Guest: I don't know why this story isn't more popular. It is an amazing story and I hope you update ASAP! 3**

**Well, I must say, as far as reviews go, this story isn't that popular, because of many reasons (Yay ;-; ), like :**

**I realize that many people have no idea what direction my story is going to take, and my summary and title isn't really helpful in that direction. But don't worry, I am working on them right now, and also on the story, so things would be much clearer soon. Only reason that I have kept things shrouded is because the story is going to take some crazy directions, but I hope you bear with the suspense that I am trying to build up. xD**

**But thank you so much! I am glad you like the story so far, and hopefully this 5****th**** chapter makes things all the more exciting for you!**

**Anyway, without further ado, let's get going with Chapter Quintus! (Get the reference?)**

**Disclaimer: Am I the master of myths? Nope.**

ARJUN'S P.O.V. (His cluelessness makes it fun to write, besides…. you'll see.)

All demigods started yelling questions, and from the Romans, came accusations, as a son of Zeus would have obviously helped a lot in the war against Gaea. I had heard the stories, and I had to admit, the more fighters they would have had, the lesser would have been the casualties.

Even the gods were no better, fighting and taking sides for and against the decision of their king.

"SILENCE!" commanded Zeus, with his master bolt crackling in his hand. Everyone began to settle down, but it was clear that the god of the sky had some explaining to do.

" He was in grave danger of detection, and the only means of his protection was to give him a defense, so I gave him the blessing of Olympus." Zeus began explaining. There it was again, that blessing thing, which seemed to scare the hell out of Annabeth.

"It was the last resort plan we had devised against Father, if things took a bad turn, only to be given to the most worthy of heroes!" Poseidon stated angrily, as his trident glowed with a powerful green aura. It was evident that whatever it was, Poseidon believed that it had been given to the wrong person, and judging by the way everyone turned their eyes towards Percy, it was easy to guess who that "worthy hero" was supposed to be.

"And it was to be given only after the consent of all the Olympians, and even Hades and Hestia! It was a selfish move on your part, father." It was Lady Artemis who spoke this time, her eyes narrow slits, as if ready to dodge if Zeus would decide to strike her with his lightning.

"What would you understand, daughter? The urge to protect your children is far more powerful than the necessity to follow rules and regulations, even for a king!" thundered Zeus, only to be countered by Hera, "A child that shouldn't have existed in the first place! I tolerated you gallivanting around the mother of those two" as she gave a look of pure hatred at Jason and Thalia, "but to think you had another child! How much more betrayal will you make me face?"

Zeus tried to say something about being drunk and not knowing about his actions, but was stopped by the cold voice of Hades, who stated, " Oh I know. I know what his plan was. If all the demigods… including my son, my daughter," which made Nico and Hazel blush, "and the children of all you Olympians and other gods and goddesses would have perished in this war, the son of Zeus would still be alive, and would continue his legacy! A brilliant plan, I must say. Must have taken you a lot of time to protect him from the prying glances of gods and monsters alike." Hades smirked. He knew he had made a valid point, and thus the Olympians would support him, in case of any fallout.

Before things could get any worse, Percy got up, and firmly questioned all the gods present, " But what is the Blessing of Olympus? And where is your son now, Lord Zeus? I believe, for all the demigods that you've assembled here, these would be more worthwhile questions to be answered." His head was held high, and he looked at Zeus directly in the eyes. Poseidon couldn't help but smile at his son's audacity and courage. This was why, Percy, or to respectfully address him, Perseus Jackson, was the Hero of Olympus.

Zeus began to explain, but was cut off, by a voice from the shadows, "Pardon me, father, but I believe you must let me do the explaining to my brethren."

Emerging from a pathway behind the thrones came a guy, around the age of the older campers, like Percy and Annabeth, with strikingly black, long and spiky hair with blond and purple highlights, and a lean, muscular body. His muscles were well built, but he wasn't exactly bulky, and he walked with a gait, which made his litheness evident. (Basically, physically, he was the opposite of me, having all the biceps and triceps and a whole bunch of other 'ceps, but still being as flexible as an acrobat! While me… let's say I am not winning any wrestling or distance running matches against him.)

He wore a skintight black V-neck vest, and blue ripped jeans. His belt was something that struck me odd, as the buckle seemed to be made of polished silver, with a single dark blue gem in the center. Apart from his dressing style, his looks seemed to be chiseled to perfection, and quite understandably, several girls, mainly the daughters of Aphrodite/Venus swooned as he came to light. He had sharp eyebrows, and deep blue eyes, with a smile of mild amusement on his face, with cheeks that were neither too chubby, nor too gaunt. His cheekbones were well defined, which gave him a royal look.

Then I noticed his weapons. He had around 5 hunting knives, 2 strapped to his right thigh and three hanging from his belt. On his back were two long, but thin swords, which seemed more like katanas than Greek swords. Carrying 7 blades around, he seemed to be a walking thresher of sorts.

"The blessing of Olympus, as it's name perhaps makes it evident, is a gift of power from all the Olympians, it allows the receiver of the gift to have a certain degree of… influence, on the spheres of control of each Olympian. Thus, as there is no point in being modest when it is the truth, it makes the receiver to be the most powerful demigod in existence, which in this case, happens to be me." He smiled and admitted, but it wasn't a smile of humbleness, it was more like the way an adult would smile while explaining something to a toddler. Nobody else seemed to notice that, but it made me dislike him immediately. _Perhaps I was just jealous of his perfection,_ I tried to reason, but I wasn't so sure.

"I must admit though, the powers bestowed upon me, have limitations, and do not work at my will, as any demigod would be vaporized if he or she ever dared to hold all the powers at once. But I assure you, I have trained myself in various forms of combat, which would be more than enough to deal with any problems, if they arise."

Again that smile. Ugh.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't the only one to feel annoyed.

"Just words won't save your butt at camp, punk! You'll have to prove yourself. I already doubt your words, give the fact that you spent all the time during the Giant War hiding!" Clarisse spat, which was a brave thing to do, right in front of the king of the gods himself.

"Daughter of Ares, I was just following the orders of my father. I apologize for being unable to come to your aid at the time of need. Do not worry though, now that I am here, I will do my best to protect you." He gave a slightly forced smile this time, but again, no one else noticed. It was somewhat annoying to Clarisse though, as his tone seemed to hint that she couldn't protect herself, and that was something that no one could ever live after telling that to her. She was going to yell a retort back at him, but her boyfriend, the son of Hermes, Chris, stopped her and made her sit down, before Zeus lost his cool.

All the gods were glaring at Zeus, but he, oblivious of their anger, beamed at his perfect son, who now smiled again, on seeing the chattering that echoed through the throne room as demigods, Roman and Greek (and me!), and the Hunters, all began talking and questioning about what this might imply for the future. Soon, Chiron made everybody quiet, as Jason rose up, and approached Alexander, which was only appropriate, as he was his half-brother, and also had the respectable position of the Pontifex Maximus, (or the gods' 'personal pacifier man', as Leo had summarized!), greeted him with a hug and said, "To have you hidden from us was indeed unfortunate, dear brother. But I believe father had his reasons. I understand that you're bestowed with powers beyond the capabilities of ordinary demigods, but before claiming yourself as most powerful of all of us, I must introduce you to this demigod, who has powers that are unfathomable, but he keeps them in control, drawing a line, for the sake of his own humanity. He's loyal to a fault, and one of the most amazing leaders I have ever met. Let me introduce you to our cousin and an amazing friend of mine—"

"Perseus Jackson." Alexander stated, and for a second I felt as if his voice held a great deal of contempt, pouring into those two words, but at the very next moment, he smiled and added, "I have heard great tales of you, son of Poseidon." As Percy sheepishly shook hands with him and muttered, "Nice to meet you, Alexander. And you can call me just Percy."

I zoned out as the leaders, like Annabeth, Frank and Reyna were introduced to Alexander, under the watchful eyes of the gods, because suddenly, I had felt a presence, which hadn't seemed to be there before.

_Him? He is the most powerful demigod that everyone sings praises of? To whom even the son of Jupiter bows down to? He is just a puny son of Poseidon, too scared to use his own limited set of powers… _hissed a voice from somewhere, a voice that I thought I could recognize, but I couldn't exactly guess who it could be.

Then the presence I had felt, intensified, and a voice of a lady, a very malicious lady, judging by the voice, replied,

_Do not fret, child. We'll see to it that he's destroyed. Use your powers carefully, and follow the plan. We'll take him with us… or take him out of the game. Permanently._

The voice cackled, but then stopped abruptly.

_Someone can sense your thoughts. Someone has been able to track my stealth techniques, which not even the gods have found out about yet!_

I had located the voice. Right behind all the demigods, gathered around the son of Zeus, Alexander Steele, there were _shadows_. With all the people around, one might think that it's totally natural to see shadows, but I had observed the brilliance of the flames at the center of the throne room, tended by a girl who seemed to be about 10 years old. Even the gods contributed with their aura, to make sure that the only place where there were shadows visible were where Hades sat, which was certainly quite far away from the convergence of demigods. I knew those voices had realised that I was spying on them, so I had to take quick action, before they would panic and decide that plotting via their thoughts could wait, and attack the unprepared teens.

_Who is it? Who dares to challenge me? _Screeched the voice of the woman in my mind.

Then, as if turning to the dude's voice (If shadows could turn in their thoughts. Seriously, I don't even know what weird shit can happen in this world of gods and myths!) she added, _We'll discuss these matters later! I have made arrangements to see that nothing gets in our way to get rid of their hero! Report me about any further developments in the future._

Now I was getting annoyed. These shadow people wanted to hurt Percy, one of the first friends I ever had here. "I am not gonna let that happen" I muttered to myself and suddenly, I felt my anger and frustration rise, and right in front of me, the shadows seemed to fade. The voice of the woman screamed in my mind to "stop burning her" and said that she'll be back for revenge, but I didn't care. For now, everyone was safe.

Even that Mr. Perfect, Alexander Steele.

Nobody else seemed to have heard the voices, as everyone was still introducing themselves to that dude. Percy said something, and it seemed that he frowned, looked around a bit, but then again smiled at him.

Soon it was time for us to return, and Chiron had been instructed specifically by Zeus to take care of his son. But he needn't worry, because Percy and Jason were keen to make him feel a part of camp; they both knew very well how it felt to be the son of a powerful god, if not, as in his case, the most powerful of the gods.

Just as we reached the camp borders (we had to travel by road as most campers objected to being flashed directly due to their last experience), I noticed Annabeth, deep in thought. Her stormy eyes seemed to be at war, as she tried to smile whenever Percy seemed to say something, but actually they were deep in worry. She caught me staring and I raised an eyebrow, asking why she seemed so tense. She just nodded and walked away with Gloria and Malcolm.

Since the time she had heard about the "Blessing of Olympus", she was tense, and Percy, being the 'Seaweed Brain' as she referred to him lovingly, was yet to ask her about it, although I was sure he must have noticed it too.

The rest of the day remained uneventful, _until dinner_.

"We have decided to restart the weekly tradition of Capture the Flag. Teams should be made and everyone who is participating must report within an hour at the pavilion, for a debriefing on the rules!" announced Chiron.

I knew about the "game" (it was supposed to be for "fun", but hearing about what all had happened in these games earlier, I am not entirely sure how that was true). The Stolls had mentioned about it, although they had said that a week's time is given to form alliances between cabins. So just an hour's time was surely going to mess things up for the campers, who, although were excited, still didn't want to jump into this unprepared.

I really didn't care whom we got to go against, as long as nobody tried to kill me. I knew that going against either Percy, Jason, Nico, or even Leo and Annabeth, for that matter, would be like signing your own death sentence. But then again, all of them couldn't be on one team. I had gone for a walk among the cabins, and when I returned, I saw Alexander give a horrifying proposal, to which Percy and Jason seemed to agree to.

_Poseidon, Zeus, Hermes, Dionysus and Hecate, against all the other cabins._

~~~~1 hour later~~~~~~

I strapped my armor, already knowing the result of the game. Sure, we had Percy, Jason and Alexander (who is supposed to be the most powerful, but whatever!), but the opposite side had Nico, Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Clarisse, and all the bulk of the campers, for example, the big Apollo and Ares cabins. And Annabeth was sure to have a plan to stop us already.

Percy knew about this and mentioned it to Jason, as I walked over to them with Chris, who was whining about having to fight against his girlfriend.

"Do not worry, friends! We can defeat them. I have some plans of my own which can help us take them down." Declared Alexander, as he walked around, as if he was the king, inspecting his soldiers.

"And what plan, would that be?" I questioned him, with a hint of sarcasm, which didn't go unnoticed. His eyes narrowed, but then again he gave a big smile, and said,

"Good question, Son of None!" I knew he said that to spite me, but I allowed him to continue, "for starters, I would like to show you this."

"Oh crap." Was all I could say, as a wall of silver light slammed into me.

**A/N: Was going to end the chapter right here, but it would have been really short, besides, inspiration struck me after reading the stories by CenturionAfricanus and Lmb111514, (They are awesome writers! The first one is amazing with action, and the second is the queen of emotional scenes xD ), so I am going to continue this chapter.**

Luckily though, the light soon faded, and had not harmed me at all. Not that I wanted to be harmed, but the way it had started, I wouldn't have been surprised if the light would have vaporized me. Then again, I wouldn't have existed to be surprised, but I guess those matters were of little concern, compared to what I was seeing right now.

As all of us slowly turned to see the source of all the light, we saw Alexander smiling, decked in a sleek silver armor, covering his body. The armor wasn't too heavy, but something told me that it could withstand heavy blows from even the largest of swords for quite some time. His shoulders and chest had a blue gemstone stuck right in the middle, and another one was on his belt, which I realised, was the magic item that morphed into the armor. On the plated armor, were etched the designs of lightning bolts, which glowed a light blue color. Smaller patterns snaked around his gauntlets and greaves, the thigh and shin guards, and also through his metallic boots, also glowing with the dim light blue shade. All these lights, which although made him look really badass, would also probably, make him quite easily noticeable, in the darkness of the forests, I realised. Alexander smirked, as if he had heard my thoughts, as lastly, a circle of silver formed around his forehead, which then extended to cover the sides of his face and his chin, but didn't cover his head. The way it pushed up his long, spiky hair a bit made it seem more like a fashion statement than a part of the armor.

"Eternal Silver, the same material that Lady Artemis and her Hunters use for their arrows. Quite a gift from father, isn't it?" Alexander informed us, obviously pleased by our expressions of surprise and awe.

I nodded slowly, as Percy recovering from his initial shock, smiled and said, " That's totally awesome, Alex! This will help my plan get a boost." He signaled all of us to come around him, as he began telling us the plan. "Alex and Jason," I noticed that Alexander didn't like the impromptu nickname that Percy had given him, but he didn't object. "You both will lead the assault with Chris and 5 others of the Hermes cabin, while Connor and Tra – crap!" Percy had to pull back Travis who was intending to spy on the other team, or as Connor suggested, get a glimpse of Katie Gardner, the cabin leader of the Demeter cabin.

"You both, will lead another batch of your siblings in a distraction. The Hecate cabin will look after the middle flanks with their magic weapons, mist control, and direct combat against anybody who tries to enter our territory. Arjun and me will defend our flag. Any questions?"

Jason's hand shot up.

Percy smiled and let him ask, as Alex frowned, wanting to know what could Jason be confused about in such a simple plan.

"If they catch our ruse, that is, the distraction team, won't they realize that both me and Alex, are going to attack together? They might just prepare themselves accordingly."

Percy nodded in agreement, but then pointed out, " Annabeth expects us to balance you both out, one to each attack team, as that would be the most logical setup, but that's why I want you both to go together. I don't know what you're capable of, Alex," he gave a short nod at the now bedecked in silver armor guy, "but I expect you to uphold the name of your father, so sending you with Jason would mean that our main attack team would be almost unstoppable, as Jason here is one of the strongest demigods on this planet." He winked at Jason who smiled and punched him playfully, immediately regretting it as Percy was already wearing his body armor.

Alex nodded, understanding his logic, as even I was surprised. Here was the guy whom everyone thought was a 'Seaweed Brain', but now was actually going to use some good old reverse psychology on the other team!

" That's some brilliant planning, Percy. Anticipating the opponent's plans for you and planning accordingly? Wouldn't have expected that from you, I must admit!" Jason laughed and pointed out, as the Stolls giggled like little kids, only to be hit on the backs of their heads by Lou Ellen, the cabin counselor of the Hecate cabin.

Percy blushed, but then added, "But to make the plan better, I have asked the Hecate cabin to run images of you and Alexander in the mist all over the place, so it'll surely keep the other team busy."

I smiled. Maybe we could win this after all. "That would work perfectly, Percy. I just hope Alex here would follow the plan accordingly. It would suck if he would mess up, although unknowingly, on his first day at camp." I winked and said, playfully clapping the back of Alex, who although smiled and affirmed that he would try his best to make us win, couldn't hide the momentary anger that had flashed through his eyes, directed towards me. Although I knew I might be wrong and he might just be a super powerful yet innocent demigod, my instincts told me not to trust him. And I preferred trusting my instincts to his sweet words.

~~~~After some time~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V. (when things go crazy, Percy speaks about it best!)

I looked towards Arjun and smiled. We both stood at the front of Zeus' Fist, guarding the flag, designed with the symbol of Poseidon, the trident. I would consider myself a pile of centaur poop if I said I didn't notice the…_friction_ between Arjun and Alexander. True, there was something weird about Alex, but I assumed it to be because of his not being in contact with other demigods until now. But Arjun probably thought otherwise.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a loud shriek piercing the night sky, and I turned to see several of the Hecate cabin members blown away, as non-lethal bombs of tear gas and pepper spray clouded our side of the creek. Another bomb went off, with a miserable shriek, wavering the concentration of the Hecate kids, as their Mist constructs started to disappear. "Leo!" I growled, and stepped forward, as I saw the Stolls running towards me.

"Percy! Go, they have got the flag! Bring it from them; they're almost at the creek! Jason somehow got injured… Alexander tried to control the powers of Dionysus, but failed, and knocked him out. He is now trying to fend off your girlfriend, Nico and Will." Travis panted and Connor continued, "Now go! We will defend our flag with Arjun!"

I thought for a second, and then nodded and ran off in the direction they had come from. So our plan now has some…improvisations, I thought and smirked. Alright then!

I reached the spot to find Jason sprawled on the ground, with grapevines all over him, while Alexander was fighting off Annabeth and Nico at the same time. Annabeth was slicing away at him with her drakon bone dagger, with a determined expression on her beautiful face, while Nico swung his Stygian Iron sword from the opposite direction. With awe, I saw Alex parry both the attacks on his katanas, with the flag stuck safely between his throwing knives and their sheaths. He was just steps away from the creek and I decided to help him out, and yelled, "Having all the fun alone, eh, Alex?" I laughed and willed the water of the creek to rise up.

Piper had come running over now, shocked to see Jason knocked out, but she led her team, which consisted of some Demeter and Aphrodite cabin kids with a determined expression. Clarisse, who I think was leading an attack team into our side, appeared from somewhere behind me, but she was still some distance away.

_Crap!_ I thought. We were surrounded.

Within seconds, their sheer numbers would overwhelm us.

Thinking fast, I willed the water to hit the opponent team members in an arcing motion, catching Nico and Annabeth square in their stomachs.

Then, happened something, which was the beginning of the end.

Alexander turned towards me and smiled, and said, "Now that everyone is here…" He dropped his swords and raised his right arm and clicked his fingers. _CLICK!_

It sounded much louder than it should have. I realised that it was because he had manipulated the Mist. I turned to notice Leo coming towards us with our flag in hand, with Arjun and the Stolls running after him. They stopped, staring at us, when Alex clicked his fingers. Alex let the flag flutter towards me, as it fell to our side, while he made a closing motion with his palms, which I couldn't understand at first, but when I touched the ground where it fell, I noticed that it was wet. _Too wet._

I then realised with horror, about what he had done. The creek was the boundary, so he had moved it a bit, _to expand_ our side, so that the flag effectively crossed the boundary. With the 'Blessing of Olympus', he had tapped into the powers of Poseidon.

I picked up the flag and everyone resumed yelling and fighting, as if nothing had happened. Even the arc of water that I had thrown towards the opposite side continued splashing everyone in the face. Then everyone stopped, as the conch shell was blown and Chiron arrived. We had won. The flag changed to a sea green color with the trident logo, but I looked at it incredulously, and then at Alex. He winked back at me, and went to wake up Jason.

Everyone cheered for us, but I stared at the flag with disbelief. Annabeth and Nico came and congratulated me, but I noticed a hint of a suspicion in their eyes. Had they seen what Alex had done?

Clarisse was an altogether different case.

"I saw what you did there Prissy. I saw you cheat. I saw you control the water to move the boundaries Prissy, and I will make you pay for this!" she hissed, and to my horror, Piper had heard her, and the look of agreement in her eyes told me that things were seriously going to get messed up.

For would anybody believe a son of Poseidon claiming to be innocent of moving water and blaming a son of Zeus?

**A/N: So guys! How was this? It seems Arjun's instincts were right. There's certainly something fishy about this Alexander guy. But then again, he could just be overexcited to showcase his powers. Whatever may be the cause, it seems our Percy is in some serious trouble. **

**What happens next? **

**Let's see.**

**Leave your reviews, opinions and criticism, to tell me what changes should I bring to my story, or what direction you believe this story might take. I have a lot of things planned out, but it would really inspire me to write faster if you all can pore in your views. Anyway, thanks for reading! Have fun, and take care!**


	6. House Arrest

**A/N: So today I had my English exam (today being 1****st**** of March, and I believe myself not to be such a quick writer to be able to type and release this chapter by today, so you can probably judge my speed according to when this chapter gets released xD), and it went awesome!**

**So I thought, how to celebrate three hours of continuous, 'at-the-speed-of-sound' writing? **

**You guessed it right! By more writing! xD (I seriously need help…)**

**Anyway, here we go with the sixth chapter of this craziness, which I hope will set up the plot, to begin the main story, because believe me, till now, everything is just the introduction, which will make the future events understandable.**

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Everyone who had been present during the crazy event that happened during Capture the Flag now eyed me with distrust, whenever I passed by them.

True, Annabeth, Nico, Leo, the Stolls, and even Piper to some extent did not completely accept that I would ever knowingly use my powers to cheat, by changing the boundaries, but others like Clarisse openly criticized me.

That guy…Alexander, had used the Mist to make it seem that I had controlled the water, and his plan was foolproof, as Jason, who although believed me, did not think that anyone would accept my theory that Alex had used the 'Blessing of Olympus' to control the water, as it had failed when he had tried to use the power of Dionysus, which was certainly much lesser than the powers of my father. What he wanted to gain from this, I didn't know.

But he had managed to make the campers doubt me.

They didn't openly say anything much in general, but for how long? What if Alex did something worse, and the campers stopped trusting me altogether?

I didn't know what to do, so I tried to help around, be extra cheerful and just act relaxed, as freaking out might make people think that I could be guilty after all.

It also didn't help that I had those nightmarish dreams of my time at Tartarus. Out of my cabin, I acted as if I was okay, but only I knew the stark terror that held my heart, as I woke up, screaming each and every night.

Recently, I had been having some weird dreams with a powerful female voice threatening to 'destroy' me by bringing forth my dreams to reality. I tried to not think about it as I smiled and greeted Arjun good morning.

"Good morning," He replied tensely and then added, "about tomorrow…"

I groaned internally, not wanting to lose a new friend just because of a son of Zeus messing around.

"I don't know what others think, but I saw him do it." He stated grimly.

I stared at him blankly for a second, and then realized what he actually meant.

"You mean you weren't tricked by the Mist manipulation he did? It made everyone believe that I had done it…"

"Nope, and that's what worries me. I didn't like that guy, but I didn't really think he could do that." He nodded and then suddenly looked behind me, and put up a smile hastily. I turned to see Annabeth, Gloria, Nico, Leo, Calypso, Jason and Piper approaching, and we all went to the tables and settled for breakfast.

Leo called Arjun and I saw both of them talking seriously about something, which was slightly unsettling, as Leo never acted seriously. The fact that they only talked when Calypso was busy talking to Juniper and Grover, made me all the more curious, but I just let it be.

* * *

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

The camp was totally quiet, with its residents lost in the realms of Hypnos, who kept them busy with dreaming with the help of his son, Morpheus, keeping them blissfully ignorant of what was going to happen.

The camp was supposedly filled with harpies roaming freely at night, but in this new moon night, none were in sight.

A dark purple flash illuminated the pavilion for a moment. When it left, there stood a woman, apparently having an appearance as if she was in her 20s. She wore a deep violet gown, seemingly woven out of shimmering silk, and her hair fell beautifully across her back, gently blown to one side in the breeze. Her pale face was breathtakingly pretty, with deep black eyes, but the perfect image was ruined, by her sneer, which somehow would make anybody who saw her feel that she had just destroyed something incredibly important to the said person.

Her smile grew wider as she approached a particular cabin.

Cabin 3.

She waved her arms in a slow circular motion, and a purple halo of about 3 feet in diameter, formed in front of her. "Not the original one, but this will have to do." She whispered to herself, as a shining orb appeared at the center of the halo. The light dimmed, to reveal a golden object.

An… apple.

She gestured the halo, with the apple floating at its center, to move towards the cabin in front of her. The halo expanded, and now surrounded the cabin, as the golden apple sunk into it, disappearing from sight. Suddenly, the halo collapsed into the cabin with a flash, and the woman smiled again.

The first part of the plan was successful.

"Now for the fun to begin!" she hissed, as she waved her arms, pointing at each cabin wildly, then at the Big House, the forest, the beach, as waves of purple arcs shot from her arms and sunk into their targets.

With a last smile of maniacal satisfaction, she disappeared in a flash of purple light.

_Location: Olympus, 600__th__ Floor, Empire State Building, New York._

In the godly city that was always bustling, today was a night when all were asleep. There were a few drunken people: satyrs, nymphs, minor deities, etc., trying to find their way home, in some places of the city, but nobody noticed the purple flash which lit the pathway to the throne room. After an arc of purple light flashed from the figure that had transported itself into the legendary city, there was another flash and the figure was gone.

_Location: Unknown_

"I have done as was needed—" began the lady in the purple gown, bowing down.

"I know, Eris. You've done well. Now we need to move on to the next step of the plan. You may leave." A voice said from the darkness, in a dismissing tone.

The kneeling woman frowned and stared into the darkness, almost seeming to want to protest against the rather rude dismissal, but then, with a terse nod, the woman disappeared, again, in a flash of ghostly purple light.

* * *

PERCY'S P.O.V.

The rest of the days passed in a blur.

A blur of increasing madness, bringing forth emotions of surprise, shock, and finally, disbelief.

It had been almost a week since the incident with Alex in Capture the Flag. We had it again tomorrow, and I really didn't know what was going to happen.

Things were getting messed up, the doubts that had been seeded in the minds of the campers due to the trick Alex had played, were worsening. Yes, as I had been their friend, and had somehow ended up saving Olympus twice, nobody openly accused me of anything, but I knew they were talking about me behind my back. It was all because of certain 'accidents' happening, which made everyone suspicious of me, and try as I might; I couldn't truly win back their trust.

It started with some minor happenings, which I didn't really pay much attention to. Like, a few pranks by the Stolls had repeatedly been foiled, and it didn't help that those pranks involved water balloons or buckets of water, albeit dirty water which I would honestly prefer staying away from. The latest prank by the Stolls was on Alex; using some tree branches as catapults. They had made an elaborate plan to surprise the son of Zeus, but somehow the said branches had bent away in another direction at the last minute, letting Alex pass safely. Although I had nothing to do with it, the Stolls blamed me for being the spoilsport, and believed that I had somehow ruined it. Again.

Arjun was having his fair share of troubles too.

I had asked Leo what had he been talking about with Arjun that day during breakfast. What he told me left me incredibly surprised, but considering the previous events that had occurred since the arrival of the Indo-American teen, I found it quite easy to accept.

_Flashback:_

_"Are you sure that's what happened that night?" I asked apprehensively._

_"Damn sure. If I am wrong, then Aphrodite is the ugliest lady in the Universe!" retorted Leo, adding, " When I struck Mr. Armstrong here with my hammers, I involuntarily let loose a few sparks of flames…"_

_"Involuntarily?" I exclaimed incredulously._

_"Just a few sparks?" smirked Arjun._

_"Okay, maybe there's a chance, a very small chance that I freaked out and attacked Arjun with hammers that were blazing with flames, but that's not the point. The point is, those flames not only didn't do any harm to him,"_

_"Luckily." Arjun chimed in, as Leo rolled his eyes and continued, "But they also wrapped around his own sword and the clash of our weapons blew both of us several feet away from each other. Luckily for me, I landed closer to your flag, and Arjun seemed as surprised and confused as me, and I could make a mad dash for the creek with the flag in hand before he could recover the shock."_

_I nodded, slowly understanding what Leo wanted to say, but I asked him anyway._

_"So what do you imply, Leo?"_

_"It's simple. Mr. Armstrong here is a fire wielder, fits the theory of him being the son of that Agni dude, and I, the Supreme Commander of the Argo II, and the Overlord of Flames, am ready to take him as my pupil to learn the art of controlling fire!" beamed Leo, and although I didn't exactly want to encourage his theatrics, I realised that he just wanted to help Arjun._

_" So what do you think?" I laughed and asked Arjun._

_He cast a doubtful glance at Leo, but then smiled and nodded in agreement, and added sarcastically, "Sensei Leo, it would be an honor to learn from you."_

_Flashback end_

Leo and Arjun had been practicing since then, in a clearing hidden in the woods, away from prying eyes. After just three days of training, I found Leo returning in a dazed state, his dress charred and smoking, and an apologetic looking Arjun behind him.

"Holy Hephaestus! He is a powerhouse of blazing energy! Whoever this Agni dude is, and if not him, then whosoever his true godly parent is, he has packed some serious punch in this kid!" Leo exclaimed, running off to his cabin to change, before Calypso caught him in the messy state. Calypso was quite strict when it came to Leo's clothes getting burnt 'accidentally'.

Till then everything was okay, but then one particular god had to find out about Arjun. I was grateful that Chiron hadn't told Mr. D. about Arjun, but as soon as he found out, he reported the matter to his Highness, none other than Zeus, and now the gods wanted to take custody of Arjun, and "deal with him appropriately". With my experience with the gods, I knew very well what they might do to him, given the fact that he most probably wasn't Greek or Roman. I protested against it, and with the help of my father, and also the fact that the people of Olympus had given me the rather pompous title of "Savior of Olympus", we were granted to let Arjun stay in camp, but under close scrutiny.

As if that wasn't enough trouble for him, another thing happened, beginning the process of alienating him from the campers, completely.

He had become the target of a setup too.

The Demeter cabin had planted a new batch of flowers, which looked amazing. The next day, they were all burnt down to ashes. Leo had been busy at the forges, where his siblings found him asleep on the worktable, and everyone trusted him when he denied having destroyed the flowers. In return, Alexander pointed out that the only other person who could manipulate fire on a large scale could be Arjun, and demanded him to accept the guilt, which of course, he didn't, and I too knew for sure that he was innocent. Although I hadn't seen the extent of his powers, Leo had mentioned it to me that although powerful, he still wasn't in full control of his powers, thus, the expertise with which only the newly planted flowers were burnt down didn't seem like something he could achieve. Besides, there was no good reason for him to do it, and I knew that he wasn't such a jerk to do something like this just for the sake of it. I vouched for his innocence and we both helped the Demeter cabin plant a fresh row of flowers.

This, of course, was the perfect situation for making things worse, and the next morning, all the flowers were destroyed.

Again.

And this time, they were submerged in three feet of seawater.

The next morning all the Apollo cabin's bows were found to be broken, and one of Will's siblings claimed to have seen me near the storage beside the archery range, which was utter bullshit, as I had crashed out in my cabin since evening.

Several such small happenings had now made me public enemy number one. Till now, nobody had said anything on my face, perhaps out of respect, but I could hear their whispers. Although the demand of the gods to take away Arjun was kept a secret, to prevent undue anxiety in the camp, someone had leaked the information, and the poor guy was treated in a way that reminded me of the treatment Nico had received earlier. Now, thanks to Will (We all knew that they both were totally falling for each other, but of course, both of them hotly denied it, when confronted), Nico had become better at interacting with people, and everyone had begun accepting him. It almost made me smile, to think about the brooding son of Hades now smiling happily, but then I flinched as I saw Arjun, sitting alone on top of the climbing wall. Being my friend, the guy who seemed to have gone crazy, didn't help in him being accepted by the campers.

As I came out of my cabin and headed over to Annabeth who was still in her cabin, I was startled to see her hair was a rat's nest, bags under her eyes, and she looked really pale. "What's wrong Wise Girl?" I asked in concern, forgetting about the rule of not entering another god's cabin and walking right in, and hugged her tightly. I was shocked to see her in that state, she seemed to not have slept well at all, and considering the fact that she was late for breakfast, I was getting worried.

"J-Just bad dreams Percy…" she whispered and snuggled into my arms, not meeting my eyes, but then suddenly stood straight, and with a neutral expression, said firmly, " You go for breakfast, I will come soon. You shouldn't have entered my cabin without permission anyway. Now go out before I have to make you to, as that's my responsibility as the cabin counselor."

I was taken aback, to say the least, by the sudden change in her behavior.

I saw Malcolm, who was waiting outside look at me distastefully, as I headed out with a slight nod, he was mad at me because some books of his, of ancient maps and stuff were found to be totally soaked and destroyed one day, and Alexander had admitted apologetically that he had seen me near the table where they were kept. Although Malcolm didn't blame me at first, when he came to know about the other incidents, he had become suspicious.

As I turned one last time to look at Annabeth, I thought I saw her eyes, her beautiful captivating, gray, stormy eyes, to be filled with pain and a desperate plea for me to return, but then she turned, and I thought that was just my imagination, playing tricks on me.

~~~~~At the breakfast tables~~~~~~~

"You've got it ready?" I whispered to Leo, as he winked and replied, "Not my style of stuff, but yep, all done, take it whenever you are ready."

I smiled.

Maybe things could go right after all.

Even with so many people distrusting me, I had my friends: Leo, Calypso, Nico, Jason, Piper, Will, poor newbie Arjun, and to some extent, even Gloria. Even when they would have doubts regarding my character after the recent events, they chose to believe in my words, as they knew that I never would indulge in such low-level acts. And yes, I would have included Grover and Thalia to the list, but Grover had set off for some engagements as the new 'Lord of the Wild' and Thalia was busy with the hunters. I didn't know if they even were aware of the recent turn of events.

But most importantly, I had the love of my life, Annabeth, my amazing girlfriend, who I knew would always be by my side. We've been through so much, and now all I wanted was that we both get some much-needed time to relax, and live peacefully together. Chiron had once said, that demigods rarely survive for a long life, but I wanted to defy that generalization. I wanted to spend a long, happy life, with my loving family, both mortal and immortal, and today, I was going to ask Annabeth to officially become a part of it.

Leo slipped a box into my hand, and I knew what I had to do.

I asked Annabeth, to come to the beach an hour before lunch. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and tried to say that she had some work regarding the temple and shrine designing with Jason, but I had already asked Jason to cancel all work at that time. She again said that she had some matters to discuss with Alex, but she sighed and agreed to come. But she made me promise to come exactly one hour before lunch. I was a bit confused at the request, but it was probably just to make sure that I wouldn't get late. I smiled and agreed and jogged off to the arena. Again, I felt her eyes droop momentarily, and her expression seemed to be like she was going to cry, but before I could ask her anything, Alex approached her and she began talking to him, and her expression changed to a small smile.

I shrugged. "Probably my mind just playing tricks. I guess I am just nervous." I muttered, as I reached the arena, to find Arjun hacking away at the dummies, all alone.

I joined him in practice and we sparred for a while, until it was time to head to the beach. There were still 15 minutes to the exact time at which I was supposed to be there, but I thought that being early would do no harm. I held the small box that Leo had given to me in my pocket, and started walking leisurely to the beach, as Arjun winked and wished me best of luck. Within minutes, I realized that I was being followed.

Not by any monster, something that I had grown accustomed to, but by 7 demigods and 1 Titaness turned mortal: Will, Nico, Jason, Piper, Leo, Arjun, Gloria, and Calypso; all wanting to witness what was going to happen.

I was happy to know all my friends would be there to celebrate, as I already knew what Annabeth would say.

Just when I arrived at the beach, slightly nervous, but still happy about what I was going to do, I stopped dead in my tracks. I stood in shock. My heartbeat quickened, and it felt as if my heart was hammering away, wanting to end itself in one shattering beat.

My world seemed to be crumbling, as my vision narrowed, with only one image burning into my eyes.

There, in front of me sat two teenagers, the guy, with black hair and blond and purple highlights, and the girl, with slightly wavy blonde hair in princess curls, cuddling on a blanket.

Alexander, and…Annabeth. I could recognize her easily, even if I stood several feet away.

"What else can your powers do, my love?" Annabeth crooned, as Alex kissed her cheeks. "Anything you want, my dear. I can make your dreams come true, with the Blessing of Olympus."

I heard a collective gasp, as my friends who hid in the bushes saw what I was seeing.

"Awww you're sooo sweet, Alex! But it's true, after all, you're truly the most powerful demigod in existence, and I love you for that!"

The box fell from my hand, as I felt as if the burning firewater of the Phlegethon were burning into my throat and down my stomach all over again. My legs felt weak, and my entire body felt as if the _curses_ of Tartarus had yet again delivered their fatal attacks on me. I could almost hear them cackling at their success.

A ring fell out of the box, tinkling on the rocks.

A simple golden band, with a diamond at the center, ringed with little sea green emeralds: our engagement ring. Simple, yet elegant and mesmerizing in its beauty, just like… Annabeth.

It seemed for a moment that Annabeth had heard the sound, her eyes filling up with sadness, but then she smiled again, and kissed Alex full on the lips.

When they parted, she gasped for breath and said, "You should go now. That Percy is going to come here any moment. Probably for some stupid reason to waste my time again."

"That Percy is already here." I stated. My voice didn't sound like my own anymore.

Annabeth gasped, but somehow, it seemed as if she had staged it, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.

Alex smirked. "Oh my… looks like the Savior of Olympus is heartbroken, is it? Face it Perseus. You've become a disgrace to the demigods. You've fallen to the low standards of harming others for fun, siding with a son of a god who very well may not be Greek or Roman, and you still force your friends to claim you to be the most powerful demigod! It seems my half-brother, Jason, was wrong and I was right, and I can prove it any day, if you have the courage to fight me. I believe in your current state of mind, that's what you want to do, right?"

I ignored him, as I looked at Annabeth, and with a hoarse whisper, asked her the only question running on my mind, "Why?"

Annabeth's eyes again turned into pools of pain and remorse, for a second, but by now, I had come to attribute that to my wish for things to get okay. Not to be fooled by her momentary lapse, I waited, as her expression steeled and she said with a smirk, "Like my love just said, Percy, you are no more the once amazing demigod who saved Olympus, you have now shown your true colors. The only reason that your friends and I stick around you is because we couldn't get rid of you. And Alex here has got the 'Blessing of Olympus'. He holds an amazing amount of power at his fingertips, and can give me the life I dream to have. So, of course, I chose him!" her voice cracked at the end, as all my friends emerged from the bushes, staring at the scene in shock, as I fell down to my knees, the weight of heartbreak becoming too much to handle. Nobody said a word for a moment, as Annabeth suddenly, burst into tears. She looked away from our friends. But what she truly felt was already out. My Annabeth did not love me anymore. My Annabeth is not mine anymore. Perhaps she never was…

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know what to say.

The frustration began to build in me.

_Why?_

Why did the Fates have to be so cruel? Why couldn't I get a happy ending?

After holding up the sky for her, fighting through the labyrinth for her, giving up immortality for her, remembering only her when Hera stripped me of all my memories, and even falling down into Tartarus for her and protecting her with my life in that hellhole… why did she have to leave me?

The sea was right in front of me; I could just cause a huge wave to come crashing down on everybody and disappear in the chaos created. But…no. I couldn't move from my position at all.

In anger, I slammed the ground with my fists, as I heard Alex chuckling in front of me. Then, he stopped.

A dull rumbling filled the air, as the ground trembled, and cracks started to appear from under my fists, which were still on the rocky ground.

With a huge roar, the ground erupted, tossing Alex several feet away, as jagged rocks broke out of the ground hitting him right in the chest. The ground continued to rumble, and nobody could remain standing, as I saw Chiron gallop towards us with fear evident on his face.

"An earthquake." I stated flatly to myself.

And the very next moment, every one of us present was flashed out of the beach…and into the _throne room of the gods_.

"You saw what your son tried to do, he should be punished! How dare he attempt to hurt my son!" bellowed Zeus, as my dad glared back at him.

The entire Olympian council was here, and I saw Dionysus settling into his place. He had been the one to teleport us here, I realized.

"And for very good reasons! How dare your son hurt my Percy, the Savior of Olympus, not once, but twice, once against the Titans and once against Gaea, like that? How could he say those words?"

"That does not justify hurting another demigod, he could have killed him." Hera coldly stated, as I turned to see my friends, all dazed by the happenings, while Annabeth sobbed in the arms of Gloria and Piper, and Alex, although bruised, sneering at me.

Arjun was right all along. He was not a good guy. I realized this too late. But then I realized, where the Hades was Arjun? Wasn't everyone else who had been there been brought here? I saw even Chiron, who was torn between trying to console Annabeth and support me, as he had been brought here. But where was Arjun?

"He did not know! His grief activated his powers over earthquakes. Have you ever seen him use it before?" I had to admit, Poseidon defended me fiercely. Perhaps dad would be the only person who wouldn't leave me, which was kind of ironic, given the fact that it's supposed to be the gods who forsake their kids in general.

"Really? Son of the Earthshaker didn't know he would have these powers? But I must agree with you, regarding this matter. Although I hate to admit, Perseus had an emotional outburst and in no way was intending to hurt Alexander." Athena said coolly, not looking at her daughter at all.

But Zeus was adamant.

"Have you not seen what a menace Perseus has become at Camp Half-Blood? His powers are now growing to worrying heights now too! Not only that, but he dares to house a demigod, who has now been officially found to be a non- Greek or Roman demigod? That vile creature… son of some uncivilized deity deserves death! And Perseus provides him protection! I should have destroyed that boy when he was first here…If only I knew then! How could anyone of you allow that filth to enter this room of the gods?"

Apollo took out his earphones and then nodded in our direction, and remarked, "I guess, judging by the amount of anger you have against him, brother Dionysus did the right thing by leaving the poor guy behind at Camp and not bringing him here."

All the gods turned to look at us. Of course, Arjun was missing.

Zeus's face turned a deep shade of red as he roared, "Dionysus! Where is he?"

"Your Highness, I-I think I somehow missed him, I f-forgot to teleport him along with th-the others." Mr.D. whimpered. I wasn't exactly sure though. I realized that Mr.D. was actually trying to protect Arjun, but Apollo's casual remark had got him into trouble. I glared at Apollo, who smiled sheepishly and looked down. Realization again hit me that he had tried to shift focus from me, as Zeus seemed hell bent to kill me, but had endangered Arjun's life in the process.

"Ares! Go get that demon spawn here! We will decide his fate alongside this emotional wreck of a hero." Ordered Zeus, earning glares from my dad and a couple of other sympathetic gods.

Ares nodded and marched out of the throne room, and Dionysus seemed to be relaxed…as if, Arjun was still going to be safe…as if, he wasn't there at camp at all…

The mighty war god, who had puffed his chest and sneered in anticipation, returned just as suddenly as he had left, pushing the doors of the throne room open as he almost ran inside.

_This is something new, _I thought, as I had never seen Ares look scared.

"H-He was waiting outside! Listening, and he has gone out of control! Father, he is a demon, and I returned to tell you that he is going to—"

_CRASH!_

The dome of marble and gold, that was on top of the throne room, now had a gaping hole, with sizzling, molten metal falling into the fire burning at the center of the room, as Lady Hestia just backed out calmly, looking up at a sight that all of us knew was going to make things even more complicated.

From the burning hole, descended Arjun, huge fireballs under his open palms, with his arms outstretched, and under his feet, slowing down his descent. Flames flew out of his eyes, and even when he was several feet above us, the heat around him was unbearable. His eyes soon became normal, as he landed in front of the Olympians softly. No one spoke a word.

Even Annabeth had stopped crying and looked at him with a mixture of fear, awe and curiosity, staying close to Gloria.

Jason had involuntarily pulled Piper close to him, while Will was shielding Nico. Calypso stood close to Leo, who, by the smile on his face probably thought this to be the best thing to happen today.

Alex, that jerk, just frowned, but I could feel that he was visibly shaken. Chiron was muttering something, as he made the claw symbol and pushed it away from his chest, the hand movement for making ill luck to go away, that I had first seen Grover do all the way back when I was 12.

But I stood defiantly a few feet behind Arjun. Even after his dramatic entry, I wouldn't ever give him up to the mercy of Zeus. He was just a kid, with powers yes, but still a kid. He was also my friend, a person, who looked up to me. Even if I was broken-hearted, I couldn't use that as an excuse to let him die, just because he wasn't a regular Greek or Roman demigod.

"I suppose you didn't want someone like me to enter the doors of your throne room, Lord Zeus. So, I made my own entrance route." Arjun stated, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "And I am here to let you know just one thing. Your son is the one who is framing Percy into all this; he is the one who is trying to break the Hero of Olympus. If you still choose to let your love for your own children blind you, then I must admit, you are not a just ruler."

Zeus roared and lifted his master bolt. I flinched and yelled, "NO!"

Everyone turned to face me.

"Do you agree with what he says, Perseus? Are you going to use the flimsy excuse of blaming my son for all your faults that you have committed?" Zeus yelled.

"They are not excuses, he says the truth." I replied firmly.

"Oh please, Percy. Just because I am new here doesn't mean you can just go along and blame me. People have seen you done it!" Alex smirked and added, playing with his hair confidently.

Then he added, "Ask all these demigods present here, what they think truthfully about all this."

No…I thought. My friends would support me. I knew that.

"Speak demigods! Show this boy that lies and excuses will get him nowhere!" Zeus commanded, as my dad seethed, he too though, seemed to be hoping that my friends would support me.

But after the loss of Annabeth, I really shouldn't have expected anything from them.

"The once noble Percy Jackson cheated, just for a game of Capture the Flag. I saw that. I have seen him messing with the Pegasi before an accident with the Iris cabin happened, so although I hate to admit this, I have lost faith in his innocence. Alexander, on the other hand, has been courteous and helpful towards all, till now." Piper stated, as I looked at her in shock. Jason nodded grimly, "Maybe he needs a break. I guess all this stuff is getting too much for him to handle." I realized that although he was my friend, Alex being his elder brother made him overprotective towards him.

Calypso, Will, and Gloria slowly nodded at the suggestion. Leo looked at me, torn between supporting his best friend Jason, and me. But then he said, "He might be going a bit crazy in his head, but his heart is in the right place. I have seen how much he cares for his friends, even new ones, like Arjun." To which Zeus snorted.

The only person who had remained silent was Nico, as I saw him gaze harshly at Zeus, and then, his gaze softened, as I saw him make eye contact with Hades, who had appeared in his black chair hidden in the shadows, soon after the arrival of Arjun, perhaps to check what all the commotion in Olympus was about.

"I will not blame anyone in particular, but I know that someone is framing Percy. If all of you guys are going to back out on him like this, I am ashamed to call your relationship with him as 'friendship'" Nico growled. That kid, he was a true friend. No, he was my cousin, and after the loss of Bianca, I was the one whom he looked up to as an elder sibling. He wasn't going to give up on me…yet.

"No, Nico. Although I feel bad for not letting him know earlier, I knew that it was the smartest choice on my side to leave him…" Annabeth chocked, it seemed as if she was deliberately trying to say hurtful words towards me, but was not actually meaning them. I couldn't help but smirk at my hopefulness… I seemed to be holding on to my imaginary Pandora's Pithos closed for so long, even when it was clear that she didn't truly love me back.

Dad looked at the demigods present, aghast at what he had to hear about his own son.

"So now that it is clear, tell me Perseus, would you like to suffer a minor sentence, and give up Arjun to me, or would it be necessary to worsen your punishment for protecting an enemy of Olympus?"

I remained quiet, glaring back at the god of the skies.

"Please brother! Calm down…Let us think this matter more carefully before jumping to any rash decisions." Hades spoke finally.

"And what do you propose, Lord Hades?" enquired Lady Artemis.

"Do not give them a place to stay in your palace, Hades! My poor daughter cannot look after these two annoying demigods, so don't you dare suggest that!" Demeter squeaked. She hadn't said anything till now, but finally decided to join the discussion.

"No, my Lady. I am suggesting a…what mortals call, a house arrest. They'll remain in camp, but under supervision, and would not be allowed to leave till a decision is finalized. Percy can stay in his cabin, and Arjun…"

"He can stay with him there too." Poseidon added quickly, probably hoping that we could figure something out soon to escape the wrath of Zeus.

Alex looked at the two gods incredulously, as I thought he was going to protest, but then he calmed himself; probably hoping that Zeus would get what he wants anyway.

Zeus snorted and asked, "All those in favor of this ridiculous proposal, may raise their hands." He smirked, assuming that none of the Olympians were crazy enough to accept what Hades wanted.

But hands began to shoot up. First Poseidon, then Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, Aphrodite and even Athena, who shot a disapproving look towards Annabeth. I would have actually rejoiced the fact that she approved of my relationship with Annabeth had it not been the fact that it was…over.

The girl who meant the world to me never loved me.

I was pulled out of my self-pitying thoughts when Arjun, who after that heroic entry, had soon reverted back to his awkward self, pointed out, "Well…that's 6 votes for the proposal. And I believe the other 6 are against it? Damn, it seems we are in for a deadlock." In a low whisper. Perhaps after hearing what Zeus truly thought of him, his respect for the king of the gods had become near zero.

Zeus realized the situation, and gritted his teeth. Finally, he sighed and said, "Hades! Brother, you have to break this deadlock and give one side a majority. I am sure you see how ridiculous your proposal is, given the fact that first time in our history have we faced such discord among the Olympians…No one seems to be gaining a clear majority, all because of Perseus Jackson. Please have some sense and give your vote while keeping the best for us in mind!"

Hades gave him an oily smile, as he reveled in the importance he suddenly had, and finally declared, " I vote in favor of my proposal. I refuse to let you send my nephew or any friend of his to my realm!"

Zeus glared at him as he looked at the others who had voted for the house arrest idea.

"Seriously? This is what all of you want?" when nobody changed their decisions, he sighed and declared, "So be it! Perseus Jackson and Arjun Armstrong are to be kept under strict surveillance in the cabin of Poseidon, for three days. I will give my judgment then, and I expect the support of the Olympian Council!"

Dad smiled at me weakly. All I wanted right now was to run up to him and hug him tightly. My friends had disowned me; the love of my life…had left me for someone else. I was going to be stuck in my cabin with a guy who probably regretted being anywhere near Gloria, yet another daughter of Athena, that fateful day when her satyr decided to rescue her from those monsters.

"I didn't sign up for this, but I am glad I am alive…till now." Muttered Arjun, as I turned towards my friends…who didn't trust me or care about me anymore. I was met with hard glares, and I knew they hated the fact that I was still going to stick around. What a fool I had been! When the entire camp had started distrusting me, hating me, despising me…how could they not fall prey to those doubts? I didn't blame them, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. But my mind was almost numb now. All that happened in the council of the gods didn't really matter. I heard Nico saying, that he'll help Arjun and me get out of this mess, that he'll convince his dad to do something about it, but I wasn't really listening, as we all headed out of the throne room. Chiron sighed and led the way down the path, as we headed to an empty space from where Dionysus could teleport all of us back to camp. But I wasn't really paying attention.

Only one image continued flashing in front of my eyes.

My Annabeth…kissing Alexander.

Only one voice continuously speaking one line: _The only reason that your friends and I stick around you is because we couldn't get rid of you. _Annabeth's words, which only now hit me with their full emotional impact.

We reached camp in a brilliant flash.

But I had decided.

I was not going to remain stuck under a stupid house arrest.

If this was how things were going to be, then the once Savior of Olympus, would not hesitate, to become the runaway wanted criminal of Olympus.

**A/N: Finally done! Took a long time, it's almost 7k words! I hope now you all are getting the idea where this is heading, but I would like to hear from all of you, about your ideas, to help me make this story better. **

**And by the way, I started this chapter at 3 pm on March 1, and right now it's 5:30 pm of March 3, so that was pretty fast, I hope?**

**Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, as it has been my personal favorite so far.**

**Till the next update, take care and have fun!**

**Reviews and criticism would surely be helpful. ****J**** Even just some words of support would be great as this is my first story! xD**

**Sorry again for the slow buildup, though…But I guess this chapter must have satisfied all of you people out there. Thanks for reading!**


	7. And then they died(NOT!)

**A/N: Well, the last chapter was a crazy one! xD It finally brought in some of the elements that will bring the plot of this story finally to the forefront. I know the story had been going kinda slow till now, but don't worry, it's picking up pace, we have already got Percy in a huge mess, so it means things are going to get interesting!**

**Anyway, here we go with the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews, by the way! xD Each one counts, and in fact, I wouldn't have started typing this chapter (have exams going on, so it's kinda tiring, but that's okay!) if it hadn't been for the inspiring reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I am not Uncle Rick, which is a grave disappointment. ;(**

NICO'S P.O.V. (It's time for Death Breath to get a word in!)

I cannot believe this.

I just cannot believe this.

It's been two days since Percy and that newbie guy…Arjun got locked up in cabin 3. Two days since Annabeth was caught…cheating on Percy. Two days since the campers admitted their support for Alexander and have now openly declared to be giving up Percy to Zeus. And that also reminds me…Just one single day, before Zeus decides the fate of the Hero of Olympus and the Son of None, as Alexander had named Arjun, just because of the fact that he was not of Greek or Roman origin.

But amidst all this craziness, I was sure of one thing: Alexander was _evil_. Pure evil.

I don't know how he is doing it, but somehow, all the campers have become totally mesmerized by his powers, granted to him by the "Blessing of Olympus", which although were impressive, seemed to be unfairly given, as he clearly didn't deserve them. Not only that, he had described the meeting we had with the gods two days ago in such a way, that everyone saw Percy and Arjun as freaks and villains, which was somewhat weird, considering the huge amount of respect that everyone had for Percy. It was almost unnatural, the way all the campers were turning against Percy.

Although I believed Percy was innocent and I was working with father, to somehow stop Zeus from being too harsh, the sad truth was, that the facts were against him. There were numerous eyewitnesses, who thought they had seen Percy, doing things that were only meant to cause harm, like causing a stampede of Pegasi by giving them a sugar overdose, encouraging Arjun to cause a forest fire to hurt the dryads and tree nymphs, and also the breaking of the bows of all the Apollo campers; Will didn't want to believe it earlier, but even he was now beginning to believe that Percy had become an attention seeking, self-centered jerk, who tries to establish himself as the best warrior by destroying others' weapons. It angered me that he could even dare to think like this about Percy, who had saved the camp and its campers numerous times, but I couldn't say anything to him. I somehow couldn't get myself to yell at him, which was funny, because I am normally not really much troubled if I yell at any random camper. But hurting him wasn't something I could ever do. So obviously, I stormed out of the infirmary, where he was, and now was trying to decide what to do.

Should I go and check on Percy and Arjun, or spend some time in the arena practicing sword fighting?

Alexander was there at the arena; he had taken over Percy's job as the teacher for combat along with Clarisse, which just made me even angrier.

So, it was decided.

I will check on Percy. I could practice when he wasn't around anyway.

I saw Annabeth, sitting and observing Alexander. I couldn't even fathom why she ever left Percy…why she cheated on a guy who was utterly loyal to her, who could give his own life away, just to see her happy…who jumped into Tartarus, just to be with her and protect her…

But that was not what confused me the most. It was the fact that sometimes, it did seem that it hurt her to leave Percy like this, but those moments were brief, and I wasn't sure if she truly was repenting what she had done to _'the Perseus Jackson' _or not.

But I was sure. I was going to support Percy and Arjun and plead their innocence in front of Zeus…but I wasn't sure of our success, nor was I sure whether I could fight for their innocence with my best capabilities…because, as much as I hate to admit, there was some sort of voice in my head, which continuously asked me:

_Why are you supporting them?_

_Don't you believe the campers? Will? Leo? Piper? Jason? Calypso? Annabeth? Travis? Connor? Alexander? _

It went on to suggest something that was so devious that I couldn't believe I could ever come up with it:

_Promise to support them and then betray them in front of Zeus!_

I had felt such a feeling only once before…such evil…such power to cause the destruction of years of friendship…and I didn't want to consider what this could mean.

Because the only time I felt this, was when I was in the darkest parts of…_Tartarus._

~~~~~~~~~Cabin 3~~~~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Well, remember when I said I would become the "runaway wanted criminal of Olympus"?

Umm…It kinda failed, as anybody would understand, given the fact that it has been two days already and we are still stuck here in my cabin with no luck for escaping.

It didn't help that Zeus had been really serious about the house arrest thing, and had posted Ares as a guard at the cabin door. He hated his job, and he hated me too, with a rare passion, neither of which helped Arjun and me in any way. Not to mention the 50 or something skeleton soldiers that Hades was forced to deploy as extra security, because it was his idea, and Zeus would be able to blame him in case we somehow escaped.

But it didn't seem possible.

I had been trying for two days.

Well, I wanted to say that I was trying. But…the truth is, I didn't actually know what to do, to get away from this situation. I have been sitting in my bunk, watching Arjun pace around the room, and having my food whenever it was time for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Nico brought it for us, and we had to eat it while Ares stood glaring, he almost hoped that I would try to make a dash for the door, so that he can have an excuse for running his sword through me. Outside, I could hear the voices of the campers whenever they passed by my cabin. I didn't want to believe it, but the whispers were growing louder, and the hatred towards me, and even Arjun, was increasing exponentially.

What had Alex done to bring this change?

_I didn't know._

I once heard him telling some new campers, how everyone thought I was a hero, but I turned out to be an "attention seeking idiot who was jealous of his powers", and how Arjun was actually a demon and that is why he will have to face justice too. For a moment, I wanted to run outside, not caring for what Ares might do afterwards, and just punch the daylights out of him, but then I remembered…Annabeth loved him now. Hurting him would mean hurting Annabeth…I knew I shouldn't care so much about her, even after she cheated on me and betrayed my love and trust…but I loved her too much to suddenly just start hating her.

Nico said it was probably my fatal flaw that was making me feel like this. I guess now I truly understand why loyalty is a flaw. The people I love, can break me, shatter me, and disown and betray me…but I still couldn't muster the courage to hurt them or even hate them.

I was drawn out of my self-pitying thoughts when Nico entered our cabin.

He was the only one in camp who still trusted me and believed in me, and treated Arjun as a friend and not as an "alien from outer space covered in sticky green slime". Honestly, the way the campers talked about him would make that exactly how I guessed he might be feeling.

"Will was annoying me. He questioned why I still supported you and Arjun, which made me want to punch that beautiful face of his and send him flying all the way up to his father. So I came here." He glowered and muttered.

I gave him a small smile. The kid, who had once hated me, was now the only one who cared. How ironic.

"Don't ruin your growing relationship with him just because of me. I know you like him, even if you deny it, and I don't want to cause any trouble for you in finding happiness. Stay away from us, if that's what he desires. We'll be gone for good, if Zeus gets his way day after tomorrow anyway." I stated.

He glared at me darkly, while Arjun simply nodded. Arjun's expression of defeat made me wish I could have known about this and sent him back home, rather than bringing him here, where everyone just wanted him to disappear. I didn't want to say _die_, because it pained me to think that it might very well be how things might end up for him, if Zeus became too impulsive, something for which he is really famous.

"Thanks for understanding and caring, even in such a situation, but Zeus is not going to harm either of you! I won't let that happen." Nico yelled, and then almost in a whisper, added, " Dad is coming to visit you both soon while Ares will be busy with his kids."

I nodded, but suddenly I realised what he meant. Firstly, he had not denied his feelings for Will, which meant he was finally getting comfortable about talking about it. And secondly…

Hades was going to help us escape. His coming only when Ares wouldn't be around had to mean that only.

Part of me was thrilled to be able to thwart the might of the king of the gods, but another part of me wondered, was it even worth it? With almost no friends, and without the love of my life, Annabeth…was life worth living? Wouldn't it be so much easier to just admit to all my so called crimes, and do a few actual crimes like attack Alex, or even Jason to prove that I have gone crazy and make Zeus end my misery?

I thought for a second, contemplating about what I had just come up with.

_No._

I will fight this. I will fight whatever tricks Alex is using, and find out his true motives.

If not for me, I will live for protecting Arjun, to help him find his father, and maybe, stick around to keep camp safe…At least that way I could make sure that Annabeth is going to have a good life without having to worry about monsters attacking camp. She can have fun with Alex…I will make sure no harm comes to them.

I tried to ignore the dilemma that had not cropped up in my brain: Find out the truth about Alex and fight him, or protect him and Annabeth so that my Wise Girl could be happy with the person she wants to be with.

I knew that everyone would say that the first option is what would be right for me, but I wasn't too sure about myself. I might end up choosing the second option. Because I still loved my Wise Girl…and I can't do anything that might make her sad or unhappy. Even after she broke my heart into a million pieces. Because…even if she never loved me, I have always, and will always love her. I gave my heart to her, and it's alright if she chose to throw it away, she would still be the only one I would ever love.

I shook my head, as I heard Ares suddenly yell and stomp off, muttering something about stupid skeletons being absolute bores when it came to conversations regarding delightful topics like mindless bloodshed.

"That's our cue." Winked Nico, as I looked at him in surprise. It seemed like our meeting with the Lord of the Dead was going to be something that was totally off the record. Right on time, the shadows on the farthest part of the cabin molded to form the image of Hades, who suddenly solidified.

I bowed to him, as Arjun, who was gaping in shock remained standing till I pulled him down in a bow too.

"Father." Nico nodded his head towards Hades.

"I do not have time to exchange pleasantries, demigods. This is Poseidon's cabin and I am not allowed to be here. So listen to the plan carefully. After Nico leaves, you both dash out and fight against my skeleton warriors. I will make it seem as if the fight was difficult, maybe spill some blood around to make it seem that you're injured, but trust me, those skeletons won't be able to even touch you. But destroy as many of them as possible, to make it seem that you were trying to escape. I will then appear near the pavilion, and stop the campers from chasing you, with the help of some more of those skeletons, and send some of my most powerful hellhounds after you, as you run out of the camp. Make it to about two miles from here and then we'll proceed to the next part." Hades barked out the plan in an urgent tone.

"What if your hellhounds catch us?"

"Just don't let that happen."

"Does Poseidon know about this?"

"No. As much as he hates this, he won't go against Zeus, at least, not right now."

Just as Hades was going to disappear, I stopped him and asked the question that was nagging me the most. " Why are you helping us?"

His gaze softened by just a small fraction as he replied in a whisper "Consider this as repayment for taking care of my son, especially after the death of Bianca. And for Arjun…He has a tough life, shunned by everyone…always. It reminded me of myself." He gave a small smile, and perhaps for the first time I realised that the Lord of the Dead actually looked good when he smiled. "Now go. Nico, leave the cabin now. Percy, Arjun, charge out of the cabin within ten minutes. Ares is not around, he is at the arena with his kids; my skeletons annoyed him enough to make him go away in disgust. But be quick. Best of luck!" and with that, he melted away into the shadows.

Nico turned and smiled at us.

"Maybe it is time to say goodbye after all, Percy, Arjun." His lips quivered and he hugged me suddenly. For a second, I was too surprised, Nico wasn't the hugging type, but I hugged him back, and retorted, "Now Death Breath, don't get so sentimental, and get your butt out of my cabin, considering what your father just said, time is the key to this escape." I grinned and ruffled his hair a bit.

He glared, but then nodded and smiled, as he shook hands with Arjun, who smiled back at him.

"One last word, Percy. Go away from this camp and don't return. These people don't deserve your affection and love. And by the way, Camp Jupiter is against you too; Zeus made sure of that, so don't go there either. Best of luck!" and with that, he slammed my door shut and soon I heard his footsteps receding.

~~~~~~Camp Jupiter; A day before from now~~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

Jupiter had arrived at the camp, and naturally, the entire Twelfth Legion knelt in front of him, and then awaited him to declare the reasons for his arrival. The king of the gods never made personalized visits to camp, unless it was something incredibly important…

As he began announcing the atrocities of the "once hero" Perseus Jackson, exaggerating them, and even making snide remarks about how even the girl who loved him had left him for Alexander, whom he declared as the most powerful demigods, due to the powers the Blessing of Olympus granted him, and also for his "courageous stand for justice and morality" against Perseus Jackson everyone gaped at the sheer incredibility of the events that were supposed to have happened in Camp Half-Blood.

Everyone was so involved in listening to what he had to say, with expressions of shock, surprise, sadness, and in some cases approval towards the actions that Jupiter implied he might take, that they failed to notice a faint purple glow, which left behind a goddess, right amongst the ruins of the fort from last night's games, who spread her arms, sending a wave of purple energy, which soon started sinking down to the ground, and along with it, the goddess that had made a secret brief appearance, disappeared. Suddenly, all the confused faces changed to a single expression: Agreement.

Everyone agreed with Jupiter.

Perseus Jackson had begun to think too highly of himself. He is an attention seeking immature jerk, who is plainly jealous of the great Alexander, son of Zeus.

As everyone's thoughts aligned to this notion, the likes of Frank, Hazel and Reyna still had their doubts. Hazel didn't want to believe it, but the facts were against Percy. She decided to believe in justice; law does not change for anyone, all true Romans know that. It treats all as equals, and judges only on the basis of the extent of the crimes. Jupiter claimed that Percy had tried to kill Alexander in a fit of rage on losing Annabeth to him. Among the Romans, this was a grave offence and Percy had to be brought to justice. The two Praetors had similar thoughts, although Frank personally believed that there was more to the matter than met the eye.

As the purple aura faded, getting absorbed to the grounds of Camp Jupiter and New Rome, far away, on the east coast of the United States, on Long Island, in Camp Half-Blood, in Cabin 3, there, stuck in the wooden paneling of the floor of the cabin, right under Percy's bunk bed, glowed a golden apple, momentarily.

Had Percy looked under his bed, he would have discovered it right away.

But the Fates had planned otherwise. Percy remained oblivious, lost in his thoughts about his past adventures with Annabeth and all his friends.

~~~~~~Present Time~~~~~

ARJUN'S P.O.V. (I know, most of the time, I am doing Percy or Arjun's POV, but it's kinda needed for a while, so please bear with it)

"You never told me that you had such a great relationship with your Zombie King Uncle!" I smirked and yelled at Percy, trying to keep the mood light, as we ran as fast as we could, being chased by around 30 hellhounds, that were mostly the size of SUVs, while the largest ones being about the size of a truck. Their size was the only reason that we could stay ahead of them. That, and also the obvious reason that we didn't want to end up between their long canines.

The escape till now had gone according to plan. Ares luckily did not chase us, as Hades ordered him to go and report the matter to Zeus. Given the amount of rumbling in the skies, there was a real heck of an argument going on at Olympus right now.

"I would have told you if I had known about it myself." Percy replied, with a half smile as he ran a few feet ahead of me. He was obviously the fitter one among us.

Soon, we reached the two-mile spot; I had no idea that we ran so far, but the fact that the hellhounds had just stopped and sat down, was enough hint that it was time for the next part of the plan.

My chest heaved and I felt as if my entire body was literally on fire, my muscles almost cramping due to the exertion they had to deal with all of a sudden. For being the son of some ancient god, I certainly wasn't showing any godly fitness.

"I wonder" Percy began after catching his breath, as I sat down on the ground eyeing the hellhounds warily, "what is the plan after this. Hades never mentioned about it. I hope he returns soon though."

Right on cue, the shadows around some nearby trees seemed to melt and out popped the Lord of the Dead. Note to self: Never mention out loud the way I described the entrance of the god, because he might just decide to give me a permanent place in his kingdom.

"Well done…Percy, Arjun. I didn't expect the plan to work out so smoothly. But now, I need you both to pay very close attention to the next part. Zeus is obviously going to try to hunt you down, unless…"

"Unless what, Lord Hades?" I asked, as I slowly stood up, not paying attention to my protesting muscles.

"Unless you both die." He stated, and for a second, I thought he was going to kill us.

Wow, I thought. Save us, and then be like, "Nope, not gonna work. Boom! Be dead, It's simpler that way." Wasn't the way I would like things to end for me, because although I didn't know about Percy, I personally was interested in staying alive.

"What do you propose to do about it then, uncle?" Percy asked directly, and his look of submission almost made me wonder if he didn't mind dying after all. He used to smile whenever we talked, but I knew, from the inside, the poor guy was broken…maybe even beyond repair. Dying for him might not be too painful after the pain of being shunned by the people he cared for that he had been facing.

Hades gave a sly grin, which either meant he had a brilliant idea, or we both were already having our places reserved in the Underworld.

~~~~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~~~

NICO'S P.O.V.

Dead.

After all that happened, after facing Kronos and the Titans, Gaea and the giants, the great Percy Jackson was dead.

After becoming the only demigod to strike fear into the hearts of gods like Ares and to some extent, even Zeus, the Indo-American kid, Arjun Armstrong, was dead.

Or at least, that's what father reported to Zeus.

His hellhounds had chased them and he said that when he reached the scene, he found their torn clothes and the mouths of the hellhounds caked in blood. Zeus questioned if he had felt their souls traverse into the Underworld, but Hades gave the excuse that given the great good deeds that Percy had done, his last deeds that decreed him as a criminal were negated, and him, and Arjun, who hadn't done anything significant in life were sent to the Fields of Asphodel, and the souls that belong there cannot be easily identified. Thus, according to Hades, they were _most probably_ there, and the evidence was enough to satisfy Zeus. Poseidon had tried to break all contacts with the Olympians, and was almost going to launch several storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in anguish for losing his beloved son, but Zeus forced him to stay and attend the meetings that were scheduled for the day, and behave civilly. Poseidon agreed, although unwillingly, but the god had lost the air of happiness that he normally radiated. The sea near Camp Half-Blood had turned ash gray in color, and it was evident that only by sheer will was Poseidon stopping the waves from crashing into the beach and destroying it, because the sea spirits themselves wanted to ravage the camp for revenge against the behavior the campers had meted out to the son of Poseidon, and one of the greatest heroes of all time, Perseus Jackson.

Alexander had delivered a long speech at the meeting of counselors, about how the Fates had delivered the fitting judgment that Percy deserved, and how his and Arjun's attempt to escape proved that they were guilty, and it shocked me that everyone agreed. Chiron seemed troubled, but he said nothing. Alexander hugged Annabeth after that, who hadn't said a word. Her strong, intelligent gray eyes seemed shattered, as tears streamed down her face. She had been staring blankly at the walls the entire time, and when it was time to leave, and Alex kissed her forehead, and made her stand up, she did something that surprised all of us. She turned and slapped Alexander so hard, that he fell back into his chair. He stood up angrily, and I feared that he might hurt Annabeth, but Jason and Leo stopped him.

Piper tried to calm down Annabeth, as she wrapped her arms around the older girl's shoulders and took her out. I was astonished at Annabeth's reaction, as she had just a couple of days ago dumped Percy for Alexander, but I was happy with what she did. Too bad that her repentance came a bit too late. Percy was gone. And although no one gave him much importance, Arjun too, was gone.

But were they?

For some reason, I knew they hadn't. My father was good at plotting. His plan wouldn't fail like this. I knew he counted on them outrunning the hellhounds, but I also knew that he would make sure those monsters wouldn't hurt the two demigods. I sighed as Will held my hand and pulled me across to where Annabeth and the others were standing.

"Is h-he truly…gone?" Annabeth asked me in a hoarse whisper.

"Hades cannot say for sure. And you are asking me for answers? I don't know, and even if I did, I am glad he could get away from the people who hurt him. You all don't deserve his company, anyway." I replied coldly, to which Annabeth looked at me in shock. I expected her to breakdown in tears, but she just gave a terse nod.

Jason and Leo wanted to protest, to point out that Percy had become a self-centered jerk in his last days at camp, and their behavior was justified, but an unexpected voice cut in, stopping them.

With a small voice, Gloria asked guiltily, " And…Arjun?"

I was surprised that she seemed to care for that guy. It wasn't too difficult for me to notice, that Arjun was a lonely guy. He smiled and treated everyone as his best friends, but the sad truth was, no one really cared for him. Even during all these happenings, it was Percy that people were asking about. Him being dead or alive was inconsequential. Yes, he was new to camp; yes, it was assumed that he was the son of a god, who was not Greek or Roman. But all that wasn't his fault! He was just another kid, who just wanted to be accepted by all. The Stolls and Leo were the only ones who seemed to miss him, but only slightly. That too was only because the Stolls were forced to take care of him due to their responsibility as cabin counselors, and Leo had bonded a bit with him just because they seemed to have similar powers. In many ways, Arjun reminded me of myself in my early days at camp. Nobody accepted me then. My reaction was way too different than his, though. I hated everyone and didn't let anyone become close to me and stayed aloof. Arjun, on the other hand, used to be optimistic and be friendly, even when he knew that these people hated him and thought him to be too weird.

"He shares the same fate as Percy, and I cannot say anything more than that." I retorted.

"We should check Cabin 3 for some clues. They might have left something that might help us figure out what they were planning to do after escaping." Clarisse stated, to which I glared at her, making her flinch. Then, relaxing a bit, I replied, " I will do the searching then. Let his belongings be touched for the last time by a _friend_." I said the last words venomously, glaring at everyone who was present. Alex wasn't in sight, that's why I was spared the lecturing.

Annabeth nodded, and everyone stood outside, as I raised two skeleton soldiers to aid me in the searching. I absentmindedly named them Papyrus and Sans; they were names from a game that Will had made me play with him.

~~~~~15 minutes later~~~~~

Papyrus stood outside the cabin with his bony palms cupping an object. It was found buried under Percy's bunk bed, and Sans had been immediately disintegrated when he had pulled it out. Papyrus though, stared at the object emotionlessly, probably hoping that it would disintegrate him too, so that he can return back to the land of the dead.

I glowered as everyone looked at the object curiously.

"I believe we have found something to blame your sudden change in behavior towards Percy…or is it yet another plan to frame Percy? I know someone among you would already be ready with a brilliant explanation of how Percy is still trying to hurt the people whom he obviously loves!" as all of them stared at me incredulously, I seethed and yelled," Tell me now, who planted this in Percy's cabin!".

I was met by silence.

"Umm…don't get me wrong, but what is this thing, Nico? Seems like a bright yellow ball to me." Leo said with a nervously.

I glared at him darkly, as the shadows around me threatened to rise and strangle the son of Hephaestus, until Will placed his hands on my shoulders to calm me down.

"I-is it the…" Annabeth began muttering, her expression slowly changing from one of sadness to that of horror.

I nodded. "It is the 'Apple of Discord', or at least, a copy of it. The last time it was ever found, it was in Troy…and then the Battle of Troy had happened…"

Calypso's eyes widened, and I knew she had realized what might have had happened.

I continued, "And it seems, someone has tried to use this, to create strife, discord, and pain, in the life of the person who used to sleep on this very bed. Perseus Jackson."

Just as I stopped, a blast of purple light blazed from the golden apple, disintegrating Papyrus (I hate it when my skeletons get disintegrated like that…), and blasting us all away.

And with that, the only proof we had of Percy being framed, was gone.

~~~~~A back alley at Manhattan~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

"We can't go to my mom's house, the gods might harm her and Paul…" I grumbled, as I tried to push away my thoughts about Annabeth and try to figure out what to do. We were just about 5 minutes away from my mom's apartment, but we decided not to risk going there. The gods would certainly check there, in case they didn't believe in the ruse about us being dead.

"I have got the perfect idea then!" Arjun smirked and said, and perhaps for the first time since I met him, I saw him smile so truly.

"Let's go to my mom's house. It's about half an hour walk away from here." He offered excitedly. Seems like I wasn't the only Mama's boy.

I nodded.

Let's meet Mrs. Armstrong.

**Aaaaaaaaaaannd done! It's finally time to get the story going, and I hope to be able to introduce the baddies soon. (You thought Alexander was the only baddie around? Lol nah, he is just a pawn in a much bigger scheme!)**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like the story till now. I know, nothing seemed to happen in the first 4 or 5 chapters, which would have hinted to this development, but guys, that was the idea! Generating a sense of complacency, and then delivering the sucker punch!**

**There are many questions that this chapter leaves unanswered too.**

**What things will Arjun's mom reveal? Is the general assumption of the demigods true, that Arjun is indeed the son of Lord Agni, the deva of Fire? Then where is Lord Agni? Where are the other devas? **

**Stay tuned to the next chapter to know more!**

**And I hope you liked the little Undertale mention that I did. It felt funny to think about Nico and Will playing it, so why not? (You can blame my sudden interest in Undertale to two certain Youtubers… *cough cough * Dan and Phil * cough cough *.**

**Like always, I would love to hear from you guys, so all sorts of reviews, criticisms, and random messages are welcome! I want to know if the way Percy thinks about Annabeth projects his personality as it should be according to the books or not, because in most stories in which Annabeth cheats on Percy, writers show him to be really mad at her, and hate her, which I personally don't think would be how Percy might truly feel. He's too nice, isn't he? But I would like to know from you guys, how you want him to be. And also, input about how you want Arjun's character to be would be helpful. He is an unpredictable mystery box till now, so we can add all sorts of craziness to him! Anyway, until the next chapter, take care and have fun!**


	8. To the land where the gods don't venture

**A/N: I hope you guys like where this story progresses, because we are now heading into the actual storyline. Percy needs to be prepared, for the demigods are going to face their worst challenge yet. I really need to know how I have been doing till now, and if there's anything you guys want me to add or describe stuff in a particular way, to make the story more enjoyable. **

**Anyway, I guess, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Percy Jackson series. That dude named Rick Riordan, giving the smug grin while deciding on the most horrible cliffhangers, owns it all.**

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

The man was about 6 feet tall, with pale white skin, and jet-black hair, which was shaggy and came up to his shoulders. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. His eyes were pure black, and he seemed to have the physique of a marathon runner. Light black armor covered his lithe body, as he stood on a small hill, surrounded by big rocks and a dense forest, looking somewhere far away.

"I can almost perceive, the safe haven of the spawns of the Olympians." He stated, in an unnaturally deep voice. " It lies about 500 miles from here, quite far away. But we shall reach soon, and the demigods shall know, what true fear is!" He exclaimed dramatically, as he held out his right hand, and commanded, "Cyclops! Give me the blade of mine, that shall reap the souls of those worthless heroes!"

He waited for a moment, looking away in the distance, arrogance clearly visible in his features, as he kept his outstretched arm pointing to the side.

Several seconds passed.

"Cyclops! Why is there a delay in following my orders? Don't you value your life?"

"Comff-armmm-ing sire-uhhmm" a muffled voice began to speak, interrupted by slurping noises, which rendered the words spoken by it to be mixed up beyond recognition, as a 12-foot tall Cyclops emerged from the bushes. He would have looked scary, with his ripped appearance and a huge double-bladed axe strapped to his back, had it not been a fact that his face and armor were covered in huge amounts of peanut butter, and two of his fingers were stuck in a jar of the same substance, as he grinned sheepishly and addressed the man, " I apologize, sire. I was busy with some…important work. What did you want, sire?"

The man gave him a look of disgust, and muttered something about how the new general of the army of Olympus had permanently ruined the habits of all Cyclopes, and yelled, "Get out of my sight! And clean up! You are a disgrace to this mighty army! I do not understand how you even were able to get recruited!"

The Cyclops whimpered and scurried off, clearly afraid of the man, although he was the larger of the two. His fear was understandable, though, as anyone who would stand close to the man, would feel their worst fears creeping into their minds. The man's aura was more intimidating than anything the Cyclops had ever experienced.

A female figure approached the man. "Cut the monster some slack. It's their time to have lunch anyway, little brother." She smirked and said. She looked like a twin of the man, except that her hair was a bright shade of red, and she was several inches shorter than the man. She handed the man his sword, a huge and heavy saber, which he hung on his back with ease and glowered in annoyance.

"I am not little! I know I was born before you! So that makes me the elder one! I do not understand why you were sent here to accompany me anyway. As if I need any sort of support while taking care of those puny demigods." The man snorted, and glared at her again, "Anyway, _dear sister_ Apate, why are you here anyway? Tell me the truth, I will not tolerate any deceit from your side, it gets tiring when you cheat and lie all the time!"

"Oh, _dear brother_" she addressed him in a venomous tone, "just wanted to tell you, the great commander of this army, who believes himself to be the best at stealth and in bringing destruction at a moments notice, has already had his monsters spotted." The man, who had been looking proudly at the skies initially, as he indeed was the commander of the army, turned towards his sister again, frowning and asking, "Who is it? Are they approaching us? Do they know about us?"

The woman named Apate smirked and replied, "They just believe that a group of monsters has come together, but they have gone away. I do not know who they were. Two male figures, who seemed to be able to see the monsters for what they were actually. Figuring them to be clear-sighted mortals, I let them go, as they immediately backed off, probably out of fear." What the woman named Apate didn't realise though, was the fact that she had come to report the matter to her brother, because she had felt the two figures to be more powerful than regular mortals; but somehow, the more she thought about it, the more she felt inclined to believe that they indeed were harmless. Later on, by around the nighttime of that day, she had almost completely forgotten about the incident.

The man laughed, but his laughter was dull and hollow. "Mere mortals cannot stop this army of mine, dear sister. This army shall ravage the camp of those Greek demigods! Once again, the Olympians shall fear the name, Moros, the mighty God of Doom!"

~~~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~~~~

NICO'S P.O.V.

I just cannot believe it.

Alexander's ability to manipulate the thoughts of the campers was commendable; even I had to admit that.

He had declared that the discovery of the Apple of Discord in Percy's cabin was yet another proof that he was going to cause trouble at camp. According to him, Percy was going to attempt to sabotage the peaceful relationships among the campers by using the golden apple, and then mend them himself, so that he would again be seen as a hero. He had then proceeded to say that the apple self-destructed to erase evidence against him, and also stated that given the fact that both Percy and Arjun were under the house arrest together, it was obvious that Arjun was conspiring with Percy and aiding him in using the Apple of Discord.

The campers were easily able to accept this theory, rather than what I had said, that perhaps someone had planted it in Percy's cabin, and that's why everyone was turning against him. Alexander, being the son of Zeus, and with the abilities granted to him by the Blessing of Olympus, was seen as a leader, and unfortunately, I, as a son of Hades, was not. It angered me that there was nothing that I could seem to do, in order to make the campers understand that Percy and Arjun were innocent. Jason had grown fond of his brother, and was fiercely protective of him, and Piper supported him completely. Leo was still somewhat in doubt, because he viewed Arjun as innocent, and thus was unable to believe that he would support Percy, but that only meant that he thought Percy had gone rogue too. Calypso…she was obviously supporting Alexander, because even if she had _said_ that she had forgiven Percy, I knew that the titaness could hold some Hades level grudges. She probably still hated Percy for not following up on his promise to free her from her island. It didn't help either, that Leo had died and had been lucky enough to be revived, without which Calypso would have had to remain stuck in Ogygia for Hades knows how many more centuries. Besides them, the Stolls, Clarisse, and almost everybody else followed suite and believed that Percy had finally become a Hercules level jerk; which I thought was bullshit. Will wanted to support his siblings, but considering the fact that I was in no mood to listen to what they had to say, he still remained doubtful. He knew that if I believed in Percy, there must be some valid reason. I loved the fact that he trusted me enough to try and support me when everybody else was against me in this matter, but he was just one person among many. Chiron remained tight-lipped about the matter, careful not to take any sides, but I knew he was secretly mourning the death of Percy, as Zeus had refused my idea of burning the shroud of Percy Jackson, to prevent his soul from getting a respectful sendoff to the land of the dead. I had seen Chiron earlier today in his room, crying while holding a picture of Percy and Annabeth from the time when they were 12, close to his chest, which made me realize, that of all the students of his that had died, it was probably Percy's death that he repented the most. That picture though, reminded me of Annabeth. I couldn't understand why she was grieving now. After what she did to Percy, breaking his heart so mercilessly, she now felt "heartbroken" as Malcolm had described her expression, and had not come out of her cabin since yesterday, when Percy and Arjun died.

Currently, I was headed to her cabin, as Chiron had called a meeting of the cabin counselors, which meant that her presence was needed. I knew that she was the only one in the cabin right now, and I hadn't wanted to be the one to go and call her, but I couldn't refuse when Will pointed out that I, having known her well due to all the craziness that we had been in together, could coax her to come out more easily. As I came close to the door of the Athena cabin, the door swiveled open, and out came Annabeth, so suddenly that I almost rapped her forehead, as I was about to knock the door. I blushed, but then observed her. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were red and puffy, with bags under them, evidence of her lack of sleep and of her crying all night. Her hair was disheveled, and the "princess curls" as Percy described them, was a royal mess. She stared at me blankly and in a hoarse whisper, stated, "He is not dead."

I was taken aback. "What do you mean? Are you referring to Percy?"

She nodded grimly, and in the same voice, continued, "I had a…dream. So I know he is alive…he should be, he has to be!" she screamed the last part defiantly, and her eyes grew stormy and determined, as she scornfully said, "He is a coward, who couldn't deal with a girl breaking up with him because he had become a jerk. Zeus would not have given much trouble, the other gods would have seen to it. But of course, the great Percy Jackson chose to run away, with the help of a kid, some son of a god who isn't even supposed to exist, nonetheless!" She sneered as I scowled at her angrily.

"What's your problem? It seems you are the one who has gone crazy! You know what? I thought you both were meant for each other, but now I realize, that you never deserve someone as amazing as him!" I growled but controlled myself. I was on the verge of sending shadows to attack the daughter of Athena.

Her eyes softened for a second, and just for a moment, I hoped that she might actually repent what she had done to him. It seemed, that her dream had been enough to confirm that he was alive, and she didn't need to feel guilty anymore, so she had decided to go back to being hurtful towards the guy who loved her more than his own life.

"Oh stop your lectures, di Angelo! You are the only one around here who still thinks highly of him. Doesn't your brain register the fact that you are on the minority side? Or have you spent so much time with those skeletons that like them, you don't have a brain either? Everyone cannot be wrong! Face it, your hero has gone rogue. Now tell me, what do you want?"

I gritted my teeth, almost letting a wave a darkness jump out of the shadows, but I stopped myself. Percy would not want me to hurt the girl he still probably loves. Because I was pretty sure that Annabeth was probably right. The son of Poseidon and Arjun were not dead. I needed to talk to father soon though, just to make sure.

I finally just managed to say, "Chiron called a meeting. At the rec room. Let's go now."

~~~~~~~A small apartment in Manhattan, the previous night~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Arjun's mom was amazing. She was a short, fit, bespectacled brunette, who didn't seem to be as old as I had expected her to be, and she received us warmly as if she had known me to be her son's friend since childhood.

The way Arjun grinned and hugged her, made his adoration towards her evident. Arjun is a guy, who always smiles, but I believe, from the very first time I have met him, it was only now that he truly smiled, with happiness lighting up his dark brown eyes.

I had expected a bombardment of questions from his mom, but on the contrary, she said she was aware of the events that had taken place, and instead gave us some dinner, and clothes to change into, and then ordered us to take rest. How she got clothes that would fit me was a mystery to me, but if she was able enough to keep tabs on the demigod world, I guess this task would have been a piece of cake. As I rested my head on the pillow and relaxed into the bed that she had provided me with to sleep in, while I heard Arjun protesting about how he wanted to tell her about everything that happened rather than go to sleep, my mind drifted to all the things that had now changed radically in my life. I could hear Arjun's mom telling him that he needs to rest and can tell their story later, and he came to sleep in a bed on the opposite side of the room, but I wasn't really paying attention. Faces of my friends, my teacher Chiron, the gods, and…Annabeth, haunted my mind, as I heard every accusation, and Annabeth's scornful words yet again ring my ears. I felt angry, for all those people who claimed that they had actually seen me do all those disgusting pranks and had witness me sabotage things that belonged to others. I wanted to punch them in the face for making me feel like I was a jerk, but then again, I knew that I could never hurt my friends, I had almost died protecting them several times, and this time, I had let them believe that I was dead, because they no more loved me the way I loved them… All of them probably know by now, that Arjun and I are "dead", but I don't think anybody gives a damn. They might actually be happy, and Alexander would become the cherished hero that the camp deserves. Maybe Nico would be angry with all of them, but I hope they don't hurt him for supporting me. I would not be able to forgive myself if his support for my and Arjun's innocence ruined his growing relationship with Will Solace. Nico deserved to find love, he deserved the comfort of holding someone close to his chest and be able to call them their own…a comfort, which I had lost.

Maybe, all those nightmares, in which those voices taunted me by saying that to stay sane, I would be made to lose everything I had, were turning out to be right. I had dismissed them as yet another series of dreams that the memories of Tartarus had made me visualize, but now it had all come true. I guess, even if I left Tartarus, Tartarus never left me. I could almost envision the primordial laughing with glee, watching my life crumble around me. Sure, I didn't go around in a state of depression and all, but after all this, I knew that I had been holding my emotions at bay for a long time already…I knew that it was an act, once the numbness of these events would go, I would snap. The horrors of Tartarus still lived on in my mind, and I did not know how much more I could handle. All that had happened to me in the span of a few days seemed to be almost worse than the memories of Tartarus. The Fates were truly cruel. For me, I guess, I was never supposed to get a happy ending. Sometimes, it became almost unbearable, the scene of my friends agreeing to the views of Zeus that I had gone crazy, the memory of Annabeth…kissing Alex, it was all too much, and I felt like I might lose my mind anytime now.

But I couldn't afford that. Even if all the demigods hate me, perhaps even more so, as Alex would have found some ways to increase their hatred towards me, I would still have to keep them safe. They gave me the title of the Hero of Olympus, and thus, it was my duty to protect them. Always. Even if it hurts me and shatters my soul, I cannot give up on family, Lady Hestia had once made me promise on that. Hermes taught me that, through his love for his son and the true hero of the Titan War, Luke Castellan.

Besides, there was this whole world of the Indian gods, or devas, as Arjun referred to them, that I was probably on the verge of entering. Tomorrow, I was going to ask his mom, about the truth, because I knew that most probably, my wild guess could be right. But I was not afraid, nor angered, for that matter, unlike the Olympians and the demigods; rather, I was excited that after the Romans and even the Egyptians, I was finally getting to meet a whole new bunch of crazy mythological people. It made me excited, but at the same time, thoughts of my own world soon brought me back to my memories, which mostly were centralized on one person: Annabeth. Since the time I had left camp, images of her and I, going on quests and dates, kissing and cuddling, and almost dying several times, and just being with her, seemed to flash across my eyes, threatening to whisk me away from the real world.

"Wise Girl…I loved you, and will always love you, even if you never love me back…I swear on the river Styx, that no other woman shall ever have a place in my heart. I love you…and…I will always make sure that you have a happy life…if it's without me, then so be it." I muttered, as I slowly fell asleep, as the skies rumbled outside, signaling the oath taking effect.

~~~~~~~Unknown location~~~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

"So you won't change your decision?" A feminine voice hissed, indignation evident in her words. A deep male voice seemed to clear its throat, and answered firmly, "My words are final. I shall not support your endeavor."

If the feminine voice would have been visible, her angry features would have been enough to scare away even the bravest warriors, as she snarled and questioned, "Why is that so, _my Lord_?" her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Have you grown soft after all these millennia?" she taunted him, urging him to get angry.

"They have feared me for a long time, _my dear_." He returned the sarcastic gesture perfectly, "And this time, I am not going to let that continue." And with that, the male voice seemed to disappear, as the feminine voice huffed in annoyance. She then composed herself and projected her consciousness to the mind of one of her loyal servants.

"Is he truly dead?" she questioned her servant directly, who didn't seem too surprised by her presence.

"Yes, your Highness, Lord Hades provided ample proof, and he would be a fool if he went against the council and somehow saved that son of Poseidon…and that demon kid." He replied respectfully, but without any fear, as if he had conversed with her several times before. But the loathing in his voice against the said individuals was clearly evident.

"Hmm…still, I shall continue to give that girlfriend…oops, ex-girlfriend of his, those wonderful dreams. She would love to think that he's alive, and shall cooperate with our plans. It's a shame that Perseus Jackson truly died; he would have been a great asset to my forces, if he could be forced to join us. After all, getting disowned and betrayed by the people who he cared for should be enough to push him off the edge. But very well, I don't believe you would have liked that happening, so it's all good." The voice gave a short, harsh laugh, enjoying the annoyance she had caused on her servant. She could feel that her servant wanted to destroy the son of Poseidon with his very hands, and she was glad that he had chosen to serve her. Not that he was all too important, but it made her plans so much easier.

~~~~~~~Arjun's home~~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

As we finished breakfast and told Arjun's mom our story, I awaited her patiently, to tell about what she knew about these things, and it surprised me that she seemed to already know about much of the happenings in Camp Half-Blood. Someone had arrived at the apartment; she said it was Arjun's uncle, and had insisted us to stay inside the room, and she would return and call us to meet him, after the required introductions were made. It struck me odd that she seemed so persistent in her demands, but I trusted on her to know what she's doing. She seemed to hold some conversation with Arjun's uncle, who, by his voice seemed to be a chilled out guy, not too old either. Then she returned, and just as she opened the door, I felt a powerful presence, like I had taken a dive deep into the ocean, and was gazing at the infinite expanse of water around me. As she closed the door and began to speak, the feeling was gone, and I dismissed it as just me missing the sea.

"I must first thank you, Percy, for protecting my son in…hostile conditions. Zeus is much like Indra, both are paranoid leaders of the gods, and themselves are gods of the sky." She chuckled as I frowned. I had heard the name Indra before…wasn't it the…? Realization dawned on me as I grinned. "No need to thank me, ma'am. I just did what a friend should do. And it seems my assumption about Arjun was correct? The Indian gods…the Devas…they do exist, don't they?" I smirked, enjoying the fact that I had for once, actually been smart. I am not always a Seaweed Brain!

My smile evaporated as I remembered who had given me that nickname…Annabeth. My Wise Girl.

"Yes, and no." she stated, as I looked at the short woman quizzically. "Their essence has degraded to such an extent, that they have, as you Greeks call it: faded, but not permanently. Sometimes they form again and return, like Arjun's father did all those years ago…" she stared out of the window wistfully, as Arjun gave her a surprised look. It seemed that they never mentioned his father much in their home, I noted.

With a slow whisper, he asked, "Is it really the Lord Agni? My freaky powers…they point towards only one deva who would be capable of this."

His mother smiled sadly and replied, "Yes, Arjun. Indeed, it was him. He is gone now…faded because…well, only the Devas know why."

Arjun remained quiet. To come to know who your father is, after all these years, and then told that he might possibly have ceased to exist, must be really hard on him. To change the topic, I asked his mom, "Are there any of these gods, or Devas as you call them, still…_alive_?" I stretched the last word, as I knew that wasn't exactly the term that should be used to ask about their existence, strictly speaking.

She gave me a small smile, and then opened the door, as the sudden immense power of the ocean again hit me. "This is why he is here. Meet Arjun's uncle, from his _father's side _of the family." My eyes widened, as I realized what she meant.

"Meet Lord Varuna, the god of the Oceans, and the first leader of the Vedic Pantheon!"

I expected a powerful muscular guy, somewhat similar to dad, perhaps, and by the aura I felt, maybe even several times stronger than Poseidon.

What I saw instead, was a twenty-something guy, with long, flowing, black hair up to his shoulders, with an aquamarine blue bandanna on his head, and a t-shirt with a picture of a crocodile holding an electric guitar and standing on its hind legs, and ripped skinny blue jeans, as he grinned and waved at me, " Sup, Perseus Jackson! Heard a lot about you! A worthy son of my Greek counterpart, I must say." Then he gave a genuine smile towards Arjun, and said, "My favorite nephew!" then he frowned and added, "don't mind the fact that you're the only nephew of mine who is alive right now." And he grinned again as he patted the couch near him, asking us to sit.

I stared at the god, who seemed somewhat thin, more built for a marathon swim than someone to lead an army of gods to war, as I would have expected from someone with such a powerful aura. I slowly sat beside him, and Arjun sat on the opposite side, staring at him with awe.

"Now guys, enough staring. I know I am handsome, but there's a limit, you know?" He joked and wiggled his eyebrows. He's a lot like Leo, I thought. Leo…yet another friend who had turned his back on me.

As we both turned away, but still looked surprised and didn't know what to say, he continued, "I have been observing the Greeks and the Romans, since I developed consciousness, about a decade ago. I'm bound by ancient laws, preventing me from intervening in your matters, but I am glad the way you have handled them, Perseus." He smiled at me, as I blushed. "There were others too, my Lord. I alone couldn't achieve anything. So they too deserve credit." I mumbled.

"Humble as always, is it? Giving credit to people who have…disowned you, as I have observed." He stated, his wide smile disappeared for a moment, but then he smiled again and said, "But that is what makes you a true hero, Perseus. My nephew has made an amazing friend in you." He stopped for a moment and then continued, "You might be wondering why I am here."

I cocked an eyebrow and frowned, nodding slowly.

For several moments, he didn't s say anything, then with a deep voice, he said, "I have come here to talk to you about the Avengers initiative." And burst out laughing at mine and Arjun's startled expressions.

"That would have actually been good." Grumbled Arjun, as the god patted his back, and began, "Jokes aside, I must tell you the true reason for my arrival. The Greek gods are unaware, of a new threat that is rising. Someone they never expected would ever decide to attack Olympus, has begun to plot the fall of the gods. And that someone has already made the first move: Taking you out of the equation." He said the last part while poking his index finger on my chest, as his long hair fell across his eyes in a shaggy mess, giving him an ominous look. " And that is why, I have decided to train you, Perseus, to become a stronger warrior, and unlock your true potential. We will have further aid too, for instance, one of my colleagues and brother, is soon going to arrive, he would be training my little nephew here." He messed with Arjun's hair, which only seemed to annoy him.

Right on cue, the entire room was lit with a brilliant flash of light, and we all were forced to avert our gaze. When the blinding light disappeared, there stood a man, who seemed to radiate an aura of heat, I could almost feel as if my tan was growing several shades darker in his presence.

"Always one for flashy entrances, aren't you? Could have rung the doorbell like a nice little Deva like me!" Varuna laughed and addressed the man, clapping his back and giving him a bro hug. "Anyway, people, meet Lord Surya, the god of the Sun, the dude whose counterpart in your pantheon is that Apollo kid, Perseus." He joked, but by their auras, I knew that it was partly true. Apollo was about as powerful in front of these gods, as I would be against the Big Three combined.

I then noticed the new god in our presence. He looked a bit more serious than Varuna, in his mid thirties, by appearance, and was slightly more muscular, with long brown hair, which would have reached up to his shoulders, had he not made a pony, which somehow made him look more manly, on the contrary to the general expectations. He wore black jeans, and a white vest, over which he wore an ochre colored blazer, which seemed weird for someone whose very presence raised the temperature by several degrees. He had deep, golden colored eyes, unlike Lord Varuna's blue eyes, and had a decent stubble; the sort of which appears after having shaved a few days ago. He smiled amiably, and nodded respectfully towards Arjun's mom, Arjun and me, and said, "Hello people. I believe I need not introduce myself, as my brother here has already done the honors. But I am surely glad to meet all of you." It struck me odd about how humble he was, unlike most of the Greek/Roman gods I had met in my life.

"Arjun, I know I am not the best teacher you could have, Lord Agni himself would have been the perfect guide for you, but in his absence, I hope to help you excel in your powers, so that you can use them when the world needs you to use them." He elaborated, on the reasons for his visit.

"Basically," Varuna quipped in, and then continued with his bad attempt at speaking in a deep voice, "the Avengers Initiative." And burst out laughing, as Arjun's mom shook her head on seeing his immaturity. But, on the other hand, I was glad that he wasn't too serious. Things probably would get messy if this ocean god got serious, I could feel that instinctively.

"And how do you both propose to achieve that? I mean, where shall we train?" asked Arjun, in utter disregard to Varuna's joke. I realized that the kid didn't really perceive gods as any different than humans, even after all that he had witnessed. In some ways, it reminded me of how I used to be when I first entered the Greek world. Annabeth had been so scared when I had mailed Medusa's head to the gods, just to spite them. I froze. Annabeth… I shook my head, as I tried to clear my mind from thoughts about her, as I tried to focus on what the two Indian gods had to say in reply to Arjun's questions.

"We need to be somewhere, where the gods can't detect us—" Surya began.

" And monsters wouldn't annoy us unless we want to play with them for practice!" added Varuna.

I slowly realized what they had in mind.

"Pack up your bags kids, Uncle Varuna is taking you for a trip to Alaska!"

**A/N: There! Finally got the Indian gods in! But don't worry; this is going to mainly focus on the Greeks only. Which reminds me, you guys can have a go at trying to guess the voices that I mentioned in this chapter! Those who get at least two out of the three voices right would get a hint of where this story is going to go and a shoutout! ****J**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter, and can put in your valuable suggestions, to help me make this story better. Ideas and criticisms are welcome as well, and I hope I can update the next chapter soon! Till then, take care and stay safe!**


	9. Coffee in Arizona

**A/N: Although it's my first story, it is slightly disconcerting when the number of chapters begins to exceed the number of reviews…but that's alright! At least there are a few people, who are reading this story, and I am going to continue writing, and hopefully, by the time I bring the full plot to the forefront, some of you can help me make the story even better!**

**Anyway, enough of me whining for reviews…onto with chapter nine! xD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my OCs… ****L**** Life is sad. **

ARJUN'S P.O.V.

You'd think that getting trained by super powerful gods, who happen to be your relatives, would be fun. Guess what? You are wrong. Annoying would probably be a better word to describe what I felt about it.

Or irritating.

Or just being driven freaking crazy.

Six months had passed now. And we had been training every single damn day of it.

Percy and I had gotten better, but still the gods weren't relenting and pushing us just as hard. We were in a clearing in a forested area, and Varuna and Surya had made it protected against weather changes like what it was in camp…Camp Half-Blood, my home for a brief week after that satyr dude found me, although he had come only for Gloria… I wonder how she was. She would probably be enjoying her life right now; she had a family at the Athena cabin, and in Camp Half-Blood as a whole in general. Does she even remember me? I do not know.

But even if she did, she probably hates me, like all the others. I couldn't blame her though, it was natural for anyone to go with whatever everyone else believed. But then again, she might have already forgotten about my existence, because technically, I 'died' six months ago.

As I meditated and tried to observe my surroundings with the help of my hearing and my powers only (which by the way had improved to an extent that I now could detect the heat from various substances and organisms if I concentrated hard enough, kind of like infrared vision), I thought back to our first day and the utter madness that we had been pushed into.

_~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~_

_"Do you see the water droplet in front of you, Percy?" Varuna gleamed with a sly look in his eyes as he pointed at a water drop, about the size of a pea hanging in the air, while icicle shards hung in the air by its side, in a perfect formation, showing its height from the ground: 5 feet. Nobody would have noticed the droplet had it not been the numbers made out of ice floating beside it._

_"I want you to lift it to a height of 10 feet. I hope it won't be much of a strain to your powers, would it?" Varuna smirked and questioned Percy sarcastically. The son of Poseidon made a face, irritation evident in his sea green eyes, as he snorted and said, "Of course I can!" and he outstretched his palm in front of him and moved it upward. The water droplet shot upwards, and the icicle shards started shifting and crunching to display its new height. It seemed too easy, there must be a catch, I realized. Right then, the droplet stopped moving, making Percy exclaim in surprise._

_"You didn't let me complete Percy. You'll have to lift it, but against a…small fraction of my power. I will try to pull it back down." Varuna laughed and said, as the display, which earlier showed 9.8 feet, changed to 9 feet. Percy growled and now held both of his hands in front of him, scowling in concentration, as he seemed to be trying to push the droplet upward. Varuna grinned, and twirled his index finger downwards, and the droplet began to descend. 8 feet, 7 feet, 6 feet, 5 feet. Percy was sweating now, as he yelled and waved his hands upward in an almighty push of his powers. The ground below him cracked, maybe due to his earthquake powers being activated, and a small whirlwind began blowing around him. But the droplet did not budge. But then, it did move. It slammed into the ground, and the display changed to 0 feet. _

_"Whoops, looks like I gave it a bigger push than I intended to!" smirked Varuna, as he took off his deep blue bandanna and retied it while whistling softly. Then he turned towards Percy and spoke seriously, "Your first lesson isn't how to beat me, it is on how to streamline your powers and improve your concentration. Next time, I don't want showy breezes and cracks on the ground. Concentrate on the droplet. Now try again!" with that he walked off to a nearby stream, but it was evident that he was still offering the enormous resistance to the water droplet as earlier, because Percy's best progress till now was about two inches height above 5 feet which he maintained only for a few seconds._

_"Now Arjun, even if you are the son of Lord Agni, do not be under the false impression that I would go light on you." Stated Surya, who had now returned from wherever he had gone with a small stick in his hand. "You have already perhaps observed the type of task that Percy had to do. You have to do something similar." He said, as he placed the wooden stick on some dry grass. "Burn the stick with your powers, but remember only the stick, not a single blade of the grass below it should be scorched. And of course, you have to overcome my powers; I would be lending in a minute fraction of my powers to stop the wood from burning." He smiled and brushed some imaginary stray threads from his blazer._

_Needless to say, the only thing that didn't burn was the stick._

_~~~~~~End of flashback~~~~~~~~_

Regardless of how we felt about it, the two gods kept pushing us harder. And to be honest, it had actually helped. A lot. Percy and I can do our challenges more easily now, and the meditation that we had been made to do had opened up a new dimension to our understanding of our powers. Like me, Percy could also sense the world around him now, even with his eyes closed, just by concentrating on the water content of the different things and organisms. I could sense him right now, about 15 feet, meditating like me, due to the heat signature of his body. I continued meditating, as I pondered over the things that had happened over the six months. It was almost April right now, and lot of things had happened. We celebrated Percy's birthday, which was on the first day that we arrived. Then we trained for a couple of months and Percy seemed normal. But then in December, he had almost lost it.

Varuna talked about meeting some girl at an art museum, who happened to be a student studying architecture from a college that was nearby, in whatever city he had been roaming in, when he had left us to our own devices to train. As we had sat around the campfire that I had made thanks to my powers, he had mentioned how attractive the girl looked when she passionately talked about the designs of various buildings and stuff. He admitted, "I didn't understand a thing, but I nodded in agreement and faked an understanding look, just to make her smile."

On hearing that, Percy, who had been quiet all day, whispered, "Just like Annabeth and me…" and he had walked off to his tent. That night at around 3 am, a huge earthquake rocked our clearing; the only sound louder than it was the sobbing of the Hero of Olympus, Percy Jackson. The surrounding areas weren't affected, as the barriers set up by the two gods prevented the earthquake from spreading out. Varuna and Surya took me to safety, as they let Percy cry out his sadness, as he screamed Annabeth's name all night, as the ground rippled underneath him as if it were fluid. At around 6 am in the morning, he finally stopped crying, not because he had cried enough, but because he had passed out due to exhaustion. Since then, he rarely talked about Annabeth, and although he used to be his cheery self most of the time, sometimes his eyes would cloud with sadness, and he would gaze into the distance, as if waiting for the waves of despair to subside.

On a brighter note, the two gods had decided to keep our education going, and created illusions from the Mist to make a school for me, and a college for Percy to believe that they had us as students, and transferred the required knowledge directly into our brains, whenever the gods meditated with us. Percy was doing a major in oceanography, and a minor in the Greek language, while I was stuck with my sophomore year.

I was shaken out of my musings, with the arrival of the two gods. Today, they had promised to answer several of our questions, which we had suddenly found to be quite important.

~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~

LEO P.O.V.

It had been six months since Percy, and the only other known person to be a fire wielder, died. I felt guilty for not supporting them, but there was ample proof against Percy. I did not know why he would do all that stuff, but everyone was against him and…I went along with the crowd. I did not know about Arjun though. I could have supported him, and yet, I didn't. Over the course of a few months, I soon realised what had made me hesitate to help either of them: I was jealous.

True, they were amazing friends, and normally I am too awesome to feel jealousy against anyone, but after the way Arjun, and his friendship with Percy took more attention, leading to people to not even caring much about asking me about how I managed to find Ogygia again, and congratulating me for coming back alive with Calypso, I was definitely a bit disappointed. I didn't seek too much attention, but after all that happened, I felt like I deserved more. It didn't help my case that I had been one of the first person to realize that Arjun and I had the same basic power set, but he seemed to have the potential of being much more able to use them, than me. I guess, I do not want to admit this, but Nico was right after all; we betrayed them, and now they are gone. Maybe they were innocent after all and somebody set them up, but what had to happen, had happened. There was nothing I could do about it. That's why I hate living beings. If a machine stops working, we can always repair it, but if a human dies, he stays dead. Nico's papa makes sure of that.

I decided to concentrate on my work in the forges to forget about all this stuff. Calypso might get mad of she realizes that I am worrying about them again. That girl is amazing like that; she knows when I am worried about stuff. She knows everything about me. And I know everything about her, and I love her. Well, I guess she should consider herself lucky, she got the great Leo Valdez to be hers!

I smiled a bit and walked to the forges, swinging my hammer in my right hand and twirling a spanner in my left.

~~~~~~Unknown location~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

"They are ready to face the world? I cannot say for sure, but I am sure you would love what you'd observe about them." A voice smirked and said cockily.

"Let's see. But I must thank you for your efforts for preparing them. They may not know now, but they are soon going to be the only ones who can turn the tables in our favor in the war that awaits us in the near future." Replied a deep masculine voice.

"It's our pleasure to work with you, sir. No need to thank us. Anyway, we must head back to them now."

And with that two flashes of light illuminated the darkness for a moment, and then there was silence.

~~~~~~Alaska, Training Camp~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Varuna and Surya were finally going to explain. After a few months of training under them, when I finally began getting over the fact that my family at Camp Half-Blood had practically disowned me, Arjun and I realised something. Although the two Indian devas were training us, possibly to help us fight against the monsters we might have to face as we were no longer welcome to the few only safe places for demigods like Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, that didn't seem like a valid enough reason for them to meddle with Greek matters, given the fact that they chose to remain out of the scene when even Gaea had risen. Varuna had made the excuse that we were here to stay hidden from the gods, but there was only so much time that I could spend all cooped up like this in Alaska. I mean, it's not a bad place to be, but I didn't want to stay put. It was already getting on my nerves that we weren't allowed out of our training grounds much for the last six months! I mean, I have ADHD; I need to move around and explore! It made me all fidgety, and I think I would rejoice and do a tap dance if the Minotaur would suddenly appear leading an army of monsters to attack us, just for feeling something different, something that excites me. On second thoughts though, I would hope Mr. Moo-face stays dead for a while. But Varuna had avoided the main question. Why train us so relentlessly? The amount of training that we had undergone in this stretch of time would put several years of Roman training to shame.

I looked up to meet my mentor's eyes, as Varuna fiddled with his bandanna, as he let out an audible sigh. Arjun had been asking him all the questions we had, and it was now time for him to explain.

"Alright, the truth is…" he gave a dramatic pause as he gave a cursory glance at Surya, and continued, "We were returning a favor. We helped you become stronger, because there was someone out there who said you might need this extra strength. And I believe we have trained the both of you as much as we could, and this is the best we could deliver in this brief time. The entity has assigned you a task already, as he believes it would be important for the future. Pack up your bags, you're going back all the way to Phoenix for your first task."

I stared at the deva flabbergasted at what he had just said. After all these months, he was saying that we had to go? Just like that? Just because of some deal he made with some random entity?

"Who is this entity that you speak of, Uncle? And why are we going to Phoenix?" Arjun asked calmly, although I knew the guy was freaking out inside.

"The entity will reveal himself, when the time is right, Son of Agni. Stay patient. And as for your task, it is something that I am sure Perseus would appreciate." Surya smiled and continued, "Your task is to fight off rogue monsters and rescue demigods, and send them safely to camp."

I liked the idea, but there was something that nagged me. "But why? Why rescue them now? And wouldn't we run the risk of being discovered?"

Varuna smiled. "The dude who asked for this favor says it's important that you rescue them; it's for a better future, and trust me, it's alright to believe him, although he might have had a…shady past." I frowned at the last part, but Surya glared at Varuna for letting that slip as he added, "I have arranged for your disguises. You'll be wearing these clothes from now on. Don't worry; they don't get dirty so you need not worry about washing them." As he handed us similar looking uniforms of sorts. It included black jeans, black running shoes, a deep ultramarine blue t-shirt for me, and a crimson red one for Arjun, and a black hoodie, with thin glowing lines going along the arms and across the back, which glowed the same shade as our t-shirts. We also got a belt, with a few hunting knives hanging from it, and an empty scabbard each, which confused me a bit, as I could keep Riptide in my pocket in its pen form.

"Pull the hood up, and it can only come down and reveal your face if you will it to. So if anybody forcefully tried to find your identities by taking off the hood, they just can't." said Surya, as he grinned smugly.

"Percy, convert Riptide to sword form, please." Requested Varuna, and I complied. When I did, he placed his palm on the flat of the blade, and it glowed for a moment, and then, the entire sword was encased in a cobalt blue metal, as if the bronze had always been blue rather than being…bronze colored, for the lack of a better word.

"Our blessings to strengthen your weapons, and in your case, Percy, even to disguise it." Varuna explained, as it dawned to me that people who have seen my sword might be able to recognize it, which I obviously didn't want.

Surya did the same to the sword that Arjun used, but his became a blood red color, as he smiled, because he loved that color as much as I loved blue. Once done, we sheathed the two swords, and hung our bows and quivers behind our backs, and waited for further orders. Yes, I used to be terrible with the bow, and even now, Arjun was the better shot between us. But under the training of the two devas, I had improved greatly. I wouldn't say I was as accurate as the hunters of Artemis, or the children of Apollo, but I wasn't as bad as earlier either.

"Goodbye young heroes. May you fare well, and I hope you succeed in all your endeavors." Said Surya, with an air of finality.

"Wait a minute, you're not coming?" Arjun sputtered incredulously. "We have stayed far too long already, nephew. Consider this a test for showing us how much you have learnt. But for the better or for the worse, we will meet again." Explained Surya sternly, and then slowly muttered, "There's only so much that I can do for a child named after the killer of one of my favorite sons." Which made Arjun flinch. Before I could ask what he meant, the gods flashed away, and suddenly, we were teleported away too.

~~~~An hour later~~~~~

"It seems we're in Vancouver!" I stated, as I saw a signboard say, "Vancouver: 0 mi".

"Couldn't they have just teleported us into the city? But noooo the two of them just had to drop us in the middle of nowhere, and now we had to walk all the way here to reach the city limits while my stomach is rumbling for lunch since the last half an hour!" grumbled Arjun, as we trudged into the city, looking for a place to get some food, because we were in fact totally famished.

An hour later, we had had a decent lunch (yay greasy fast food!), and were now walking out of the city heading towards the borders, which were much farther than I had expected them to be. We had to change our course a bit, and went for the shortest crossing via Boundary Bay, about 20 miles to be exact. After all that training, we were in excellent shape and were in the United States by nighttime, when we set camp in a wooded area, which hopefully didn't have any monsters hiding in them. Not that we couldn't fight them, it would just be annoying, as we wanted to relax after the long trek.

As Arjun lit the sticks to make our campfire, and I set up the tents, I thought about all that we had to do and could have to face now. If I headed south, I would reach San Francisco in two weeks, if I gave it my best shot. That's where Annabeth's dad and step mom, along with her stepbrothers lived. I didn't know what I would say if I met them, but I couldn't stop thinking about it, just because they were…well, related to Annabeth. I felt myself replaying her scornful words in my mind, as I wondered if all those signs of our love were just a lie. Whatever it was, I hoped, Annabeth was happy now, without having to worry about imminent death every two seconds, like it had been when she was with me. Why should she worry? Alex would protect her from everything; he has the 'Blessing of Olympus' after all…

I shook my head and decided to concentrate on the task at hand. I shouldn't dwell in the past and I needed to move on. I knew that it was easier said than done, but there was nothing that wishful thinking could change. Besides, now that I think of it, I realize for the millionth time that maybe it happened for the best… for her. As we sat munching the burgers that had gone cold as we had bought them earlier before setting off on our across-border trek, I began wondering about this "entity" who might have assigned us the task to rescue demigods. I mean it's rare for any gods to ever care about demigods enough to actually assign anyone (even us, who are supposed to be 'dead criminals') for rescuing them and sending them to camp safely. I guess we would have to wait till we reach Phoenix to get some answers.

The next day, we packed up, and began jogging south, and soon, we were running over large distances of open country, making much more progress than any average mortal, or to be honest, any other demigod could make. Well…any other demigod except perhaps Alexander Steele, the guy who was the 'perfect demigod'.

We couldn't use any modes of travel like via airplanes or something, because Zeus would detect us. We may be able to use automobiles, but we needed to find one first. But after staying in isolation from the world for all these months, both of us were rather wary of visiting any cities to be able to rent any vehicles. Arjun didn't know or was of legal age to drive anyway. Besides, it was best we stayed on foot, we could keep a better lookout for stray monsters, which in theory, should be a lot, because the stragglers if Gaea's army were still supposed to be roaming the country. With each passing day, we were able to cover even larger distances, and even stood on guard half of the night each, without being as tired, as we would have been six months ago. Arjun used to face some difficulty, as he was still quite inexperienced, but he was making progress at a rate that can only be deemed as miraculous. His skills with the sword had improved greatly. In fact, we both singlehandedly took on a group of 10 empousai and about a dozen or more telkhines, which should have been difficult given the fact that they ambushed us when we were setting up our tents after running all day. It reminded me of Arjun's first time fighting against a monster, a Laistrygonian giant, where he had swung his sword blindly and killed the giant, something that even I thought he would have been unable to do. I played cool when…Annabeth got mad at me for risking his life and letting him into the fight, but I am glad nothing bad happened.

Shit.

…I reminded myself of her again…Annabeth. I wonder what she might be doing right now, while I am spending my life running around the country. I had to take seven deep breaths to keep myself calm. Breaking down every time when I thought about her wasn't acceptable.

At least, for Arjun's sake, I had to stay strong. Come to think of it, I didn't even know what drove that guy to keep pushing hard in going through this mess. He had renounced the world, and is now ready to take up a task given by some unknown entity to help children of the very gods who wanted him dead, just because he wasn't the son of any god of their pantheon. He was trying to save demigods, while almost every demigod he had met with at camp had turned their backs on him. True, a few of them seemed to like him, but no one raised their voice against the will of Zeus. Son of None, Alex named him. I smiled when I tried to imagine what his expression would be when Arjun announces himself as a son of Agni, the Lord of Fire. Nope. Scratch that. The _true_ Lord of Fire. He was said to have risen from the waters of creation itself, which was a reference to the cleanest form of combustion, the burning of hydrogen and oxygen of the water. How the ancient Indians knew about this was a mystery to me…in fact, a lot of things were unknown to me about them, as Varuna and Surya remained tight lipped regarding the matter, saying that those who had faded should be left at peace.

But then I realized. We CANNOT let Alex to know about Arjun. Especially, not about his heritage. For the Greek world, we were dead, and that's how I preferred it to be.

~~~~~~15 days later~~~~~

We had got a second hand truck, that probably was up for free, as it had a for sale sign stuck next to it, and had its keys on the dashboard. I had placed a drachma next to the board, just in case any payment was expected. The truck was rickety, and Arjun had to heat up the engine a few times to keep it running, but it made our progress faster. We had arrived at Phoenix, the capital of Arizona. It was a nice city, not as big as New York, but impressive in terms of it being in a desert. But the weather was really dry and warm, and was definitely not "son-of-sea-god-friendly" type. We purchased a few mineral water bottles, out of which I kept one solely for the purpose of cooling myself, by pouring the contents over me. It made me feel better, and just to avoid weird looks, I willed myself to dry immediately.

"Now what? We are here. What do we do next?" Arjun mused, as we trudged through the streets, looking for any signs of monsters.

"We'll head to the nearest school. The kid we need to rescue must be in their school right now. Maybe we should keep a lookout for any monsters gathering…that might be a sign too." I suggested, as we passed by a café, when something struck me odd. The café had a sign that said it was closed for repairs, but inside, there was a dude, who waved at us to come in. I had no idea what this could mean, but after all these years, I knew that most of the things that happen in my life are either crazy, or deadly, or crazily deadly.

"We go in?" Arjun asked in a guarded tone, as he kept constant eye contact with the guy, from under his hood. That's a sweet feature we found out. Due to it, we could see through the fabric of the hood of our jackets, as if it was transparent, but anyone else couldn't see our eyes from the outside.

I nodded. We didn't seem to have much choice and the dude seemed to be getting slightly annoyed.

We entered the shop cautiously, with our hands on our weapons, which till now had seemed to be invisible to mortals.

The guy who was wearing the uniform of a waiter, and on closer observation seemed quite muscular and tall for someone of his age, just smiled. He had dirty blonde shoulder length hair and was slightly hunched, as if there was a weight placed on his back, and had on a shirt that seemed to be several sizes too big for him.

"Perseus! Arjun! So glad to have finally got the chance to meet the both of you. I see you've come for your first rescue mission? Judging by your apparent cluelessness, let me fill you in with the details." The guy beamed and said, whipping out two espressos and giving them to us. We accepted our drinks warily. Although the guy seemed to want to help, I had known from past experience that anyone who knew my real name without me introducing myself first was probably a monster.

"You need to go to the public school that's around 5 blocks down the main street, and get a 12 year old girl, a daughter of Hermes. Be quick, because in an hour, a few monsters are planning to attack her."

This information, although seemed to be just a little helpful, did make me realize two things. Firstly, that this guy was perhaps not a monster, because the apparent disgust when he said that word made it clear that he hated them. Secondly, whoever that entity was, he wanted us to rescue all demigods; not just the most powerful ones, like the children of the Big Three. Judging by the lack of self-control that Zeus has displayed on several occasions, I half-expected to be rescuing yet another kid of his.

"So you are on the side of whoever has assigned us this mission?" Arjun narrowed his eyes and enquired.

"Affirmative, Sherlock!" the guy replied and laughed. He then smiled as Arjun frowned at the slight sarcasm in his reply, and took out what looked like two…smartphones?

"The "entity" as you call him had told me to give you these, so that later on, you wouldn't need my assistance during your missions." He handed both of us what looked like a sleeker version of the most recent iPhone, and had a black back cover, which was perhaps the darkest shade of black I had ever seen.

"The phones have maps that guide you to your rescue mission locations, so that you aren't wasting time looking around all over the place. They also track movements of the Olympians, especially Artemis and her hunters, so that you don't run into them accidentally. Other specifics include the data of all the monsters in the entire country with their last known locations, and of course, the handy teleporter option, which can be activated by your thoughts, once the device recognizes you as its owner." He laughed at our surprised expressions. Apparently, these were YOU'RE YOUR regular iPhones.

"And don't worry, monsters cannot detect these, that's why they won't attract them to you, and they don't need to be charged either." He rubbed his back a bit and added, "Now go! Complete your mission. I need to be out of here now too. Zeus would kill me if he found out I was here. Especially talking to the both of you. Hell, he might remove me from my job, and my siblings would finally get a chance to prove that they are better than me!" He said the last part with a whine, as if he and his siblings were always competing with each other.

"Wait. First tell us who you are? And who is this entity that assigned us this mission? And—" Arjun was cut off as the guy waved his hand and looked around with a flicker of fear in his eyes, as the skies rumbled a bit outside.

"The entity will reveal himself to you when the time is right. As for me, I am Zelus!" and with that, the guy's baggy shirt ripped and huge golden wings sprouted from his back, and with a flash, he was gone.

**A/N: Several days since my last update…Sorry for that, have just been really busy with a lot of stuff. I hope you like the development of the plot till now, and trust me, there's a lot more in store! This chapter was more of a filler, and an introduction to the new life that our two heroes will lead.**

**Anyway, reviews, suggestions and criticisms are welcome, and guesses on the "entity" would surely be nice! I will reveal the next upcoming twist to the one who guesses it right! ;) **


	10. Crap no one told her!

**A/N: Hey guys! I seriously am sorry for slowing down with the updates…that too when the story is just picking up pace! A lot of stuff is going on, but I will still try my best to keep this story going, for the sake of anyone and everyone who is reading it! **J

**And that reminds me, shoutout to sortofbored for his constant encouragement! Thanks a lot! I am glad to know that you are reading my story and liking to so far! I'll surely try my best to improve, and I am sure you'll love the direction this story is going to take. ;)**

**Anyway, now onwards to chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own the series, only my OCs (who are pretty cool by the way…probably) and definitely not Uncle Rick!**

**UPDATE: Th site has been messing with me a lot, lately, not allowing me to post my chapters (it just hangs :( ), and when I finally succeeded in posting it, half of the code got visible, messing up the entire chapter. I am posting this, and hopefully, it will be okay this time.**

PERCY'S P.O.V.

We jumped over the school walls and were inside, and thankfully, weren't noticed by anyone. It was recess and the place was in chaos, so it helped in providing us with ample cover too. But we knew that we didn't have much time, as firstly, we had seen the monsters already inside the school; they had probably decided to strike early, secondly, I wasn't sure if anybody would believe if I told them that I was in middle school.

Arjun was using his super-phone (that's what we decided to call it!) to pinpoint the location of the daughter of Hermes, but I realised that it was unneeded. I saw around 5 empousai and 2 Scythian dracanae making their way towards the opposite side of the school grounds, where very few kids were hanging around. Nodding towards Arjun, I raced directly towards the monsters, but still staying hidden in the crowd, to have the element of surprise when we are ready to attack them and rescue the girl. The monsters seemed to walk faster as we edged closer, and then disappeared behind one of the buildings of the school. I realised that we needed to act fast. The girl wouldn't be able to hold against so many monsters at once. It surprised me that such size of monster groups could form, just to hunt down a single demigod. I guess after the two wars, they preferred to stay a bit more on guard. Nice thinking on their part, but I certainly didn't appreciate it.

Arjun tapped my shoulder, and then with each of his two index fingers, he made a semicircle in the air, gesturing that we should split up with me attacking the monsters from the back, while he would go around the building and face them from the front, and maybe rescue the kid we were sent to find. I nodded and he ran to his side, as we were just a few feet away now. Just as he went out of my sight, I ran ahead, and went behind the building, and met a horrific sight.

The monsters had cornered the girl, who was gagged so that she couldn't scream for help. On closer inspection, I realised that there was a sixth empousai there, and by her dress, she seemed to have disguised as a teacher. Just as they were going to cut off her head with their talons, I jumped in, slicing the now iridescent blue blade of Riptide through both the dracanae, and the nearest empousai, turning them to dust. The monsters had been caught by surprise, as they were too focused on the kid to notice me. They couldn't "smell" me either (I still take offense to that, I mean, it seems like I have hygiene issues or something!), thanks to the uniforms given to Arjun and I by the devas. The remaining 5 empousai gnashed their teeth in frustration.

"Who dares to challenge us?" screamed the leader, the one dressed like a teacher, as she hobbled on her mismatched legs with her hair blazing with fire and talons outstretched. The other four had now surrounded me, and left the girl, which was good, but she couldn't move away. I saw that her ankle was swollen and she probably had a sprain, if not a fracture. I hoped it wasn't the latter one. I turned my focus to the monsters that were closing on me, trying to attack from all sides to overwhelm me.

_Anytime now Fire-kid. _I thought and gritted my teeth, glancing at the monsters warily. Right on cue, three of the empousai wailed and were dispatched to Tartarus, one being sliced through the back, and the other two being burnt to crisp. The latter one was the closest to the girl, who screamed through her gags and wriggled out of the way a bit, as she gazed at us with a mix of terror and fascination. I decided it was time to end it quickly. People would surely hear the commotion, and we needed to be out before anyone arrived. Nodding to Arjun, I pushed back the empousai that jumped to attack me for avenging the death of her sisters, as the other one tried to make a run for the girl, probably to take her hostage. Emphasis on _tried_.

I sent a concentrated crack through the ground, effectively trapping her donkey leg, as I drove riptide through the one that was attacking me. Just as the dust of the empousai closer to me cleared, I saw Arjun wrap up the business by killing the last empousai.

We then jogged to the girl, and I gently took off her gag and handed her a piece of ambrosia, urging her to eat it, as she stared at us wide-eyed.

"W-Who _are _you guys? Why did Mrs. Em turn into th-that…" she whimpered and began asking, as she slowly gained some energy from the godly food.

"Relax. Don't worry. We are here to help you find the place where you'll be safe from all these monsters. Now tell me, what's your name?" I smiled and slowly helped her stand up, as Arjun bent down and wrapped a bandage on her injured foot.

"I am Eva…and thank you for your help! But what are your names? Why are both of your faces hidden under hoods? Why—"

"Woah Eva!" Arjun smirked and continued, "Reign in those questions. First we need to get out of here. Besides, I really want to check this out as soon as possible!" as he showed his super-phone from his pocket and I understood. I held Eva's left hand and Arjun held the other, as with his other hand, he manually clicked a button on the phone, and within a second, we were gone.

We rematerialized at the last place where I wanted to be. I could recognize the road. We were about half a mile from…Camp Half-Blood.

"Dude! Why here?" I whispered to Arjun, who calmly replied, "We need to ensure she reaches camp safely, so this was inevitable."

I nodded, as the girl who was wonderstruck by what just happened shook me by my hand and yelled, "Where am I? What did your friend do?"

"Calm down, Eva. We have teleported to the place where you'll be safe from all those monsters. There would be people there who would look after you. Don't worry; it's only half a mile from here." I assured her, smiling sincerely.

She calmed down, and then snorted and asked, "Where exactly is 'here' anyway?"

Arjun smirked and stated, "Long Island." hearing which the girl's jaw dropped, but she regained her composure and asked again, "But who are you guys? Why are you helping me?"

"We have been assigned to help people like you, who are attacked by monsters and stuff like that, As for who we are—" Arjun stared at me, wanting to know what he should say next. I briefly shook my head, and I hoped he understood what I meant.

He sighed and continued, "You can call me Kalki. My friend will introduce himself." He looked at me apologetically, as I guess he expected that I would have wanted him to give me an alias name too. But I had already planned mine.

"You can call me Aphosius." I stated.

"Why does it seem like those aren't your real names?" the girl narrowed her eyes.

"Because you are a smart girl." I laughed a bit and replied.

"Alright, be all secretive if you want. I won't tell about my suspicions to anyone at this place you're sending me, as I guess that is probably what you're trying to avoid." Eva smirked slyly, but then unexpectedly hugged me tightly. "Thank you though. For saving me." She then hugged Arjun, and I could easily tell that he was blushing a deep shade of crimson under his hood.

About half an hour later, we were just at the base of the small hill, on which stood Thalia's tree, hidden among the bushes. I sighed, as I caught sight of Peleus napping peacefully. The place that I called home till just a few months ago was basking in the soothing warm light of the sunset. All I wanted right now was to run up and go back, but I knew it wasn't possible. Even if I did return, the campers just might attack me, because only Zeus knows what more lies had been circulated amongst them by Alex, regarding Arjun and I, when we weren't around. Besides, we both were supposed to be dead. Returning would mean that Zeus would soon be notified, and then Hades, who had helped us so much, would be in trouble. I did not want that, and there was also the fact that this time Zeus might personally decide to kill us, which was something neither Arjun nor I would like. Obviously dying isn't fun, but dying while Zeus gets a chance to mock us for crimes we did not commit? It isn't too high on my bucket list.

"Eva, run straight up to that tree, and then over to the largest house you'd see. It is painted in blue, and is hard to miss." I instructed the girl, as she nodded, but then her eyes widened when she saw the tree.

"What about the dragon? Would he…allow me to pass?" she asked, bewildered by the size Peleus had become by now. He was just a bit smaller than Festus now, and at this rate, might soon become even larger than him.

Arjun smiled and assured her, "Don't worry, that dragon's job is to protect something that's on the tree. And he would know that you don't want to cause any harm. But if it still scares you, just make a run for it to the house." He laughed, as the girl narrowed her eyes, trying to understand if he was joking or not. After a few moments, she nodded and started jogging up the hill. Her foot was almost healed, due to the ambrosia that we had given her. Once she crossed the border, I mentally activated my teleporter, and took the both of us to the outskirts of the city of Westport, Connecticut. I do not know why we ended up there, but I recognized the place. Nico had brought me here to meet Luke's mom before my almost fatal dip in the Styx River. I hoped that we didn't have to meet her again. Besides, I did not want to relive my memories regarding the curse of Achilles. It would remind me of…Annabeth, and I did not want that right now.

"Hey! You should have at least given a warning. We could have stayed there for a couple of more minutes…you know, maybe catch sight of someone." Arjun protested.

"And what if they catch sight of us? We need to stay in the shadows, Arjun. Yes, we'll help those kids reach camp, but we're not letting the campers know who we are. Because as soon as the rescued kids reveal that they had been personally escorted here, the campers would be out looking for us, to find us. And we can't let them do that. They hated us, and we, according to them, died. They're happy now. We cannot burden them with the fact of our existence." I explained, as I whipped out my super-phone and looked for our next mission. Philadelphia. About 150 miles if we took the most direct route, but that would mean crossing New York. We could just teleport, but I wanted to check the extent of the super-phone's teleporter by increasing the distance bit by bit, rather than making big jumps in one go.

I saw Arjun nod in silent agreement as he checked his phone too. This time we were rescuing a son of Apollo. Something told me that this was probably not the last kid of his that we would be rescuing.

JASON'S P.O.V.

Piper held Annabeth in her arms, comforting the blonde as she cried. Annabeth had begun to behave quite erratically, going from times when she would hate Percy for what he had become before his death and condemn any mention of him, while praising Alex, to times like this. Only Chiron, Piper and I had been aware of her breakdowns. She would ramble about having to hurt Percy when she knew he might very well be innocent, which struck me odd. I mean, even though I would hate to admit it, I had begun to doubt whether Percy had been saying the truth after all, when he said someone had framed him. The evidence was incredibly against his favor, and Annabeth, the wisest child of Athena that I had ever had the fortune to meet, deciding to go against reason…it, to say the very least, unsettled me. And given what happened earlier today, I had begun to doubt my own conviction regarding Percy being guilty.

_~~~~Flashback~~~~_

_"You're still loyal to him? The traitor? The self-centered jerk that committed petty crimes just for attention? Who tried to protect a son of some random savage god, who might have been a threat to the stability of Olympus? The very guy who tried to kill me, the son of Zeus, and the only demigod deemed worthy enough for the 'Blessing of Olympus' bestowed on me by the king of the gods himself?" Alex bellowed, as Annabeth silently sobbed while hiding her face in Piper's shoulders._

_Chiron had decided to inform Alex, hoping that he might be able to help, and it was his right to know if his girlfriend was still in love with her dead ex. But the way he reacted made me flinch. He should have tried to understand. Percy and Annabeth shared too many memories; she couldn't just forget him in a flash. But it had been almost 6 months now, since his…death. Besides, it also worried me that Alex seemed to consider himself the worthiest demigod, just because of the blessing, although Zeus had admitted that he had given it to him for protecting him. Such pride did not bode well for his future._

_"Calm down, Alexander. I understand your feelings, but right now, we need to help Annabeth feel better. From what Malcolm had informed me, her nightmares are getting worse, and we need to find a way to make her forget about the painful memories and concentrate on her future." Chiron calmly advised._

_"Are you suggesting that we make her…forget Percy somehow?" I narrowed my eyes and enquired._

_Chiron's eyes darkened as he stared off to the distance. "Di immortales, no! I cannot do that. It would be unfair to her, and even to…Percy." He said his favorite student's name with a sigh. For him, Percy was always innocent, and a victim of the meddling of the gods._

_"So what are you suggesting then, Chiron? If I may so ask?" Piper asked as she gently patted Annabeth's back._

_Chiron wiped his forehead with a napkin, and then started apprehensively, "Alexander here has the powers of all the Olympians. So I want him to use the power of Aphrodite, and amplifying the feeling of love that Annabeth has for him, to suppress these…outbursts." He concluded his idea quickly, not meeting the eyes of any one of us._

_Alex nodded, understanding what he meant, as he ran a hand through his blond and purple highlighted raven hair, and he asked, "Annabeth, should I do it now? I will try my best, and I promise it won't hurt you."_

_Annabeth remained quiet, but Piper replied, "Do it. If it can help her, then do it. Please." I realized that it pained my Piper to see her best friend in so much suffering._

_Alex gave a curt nod to Chiron and me, and then placed his arms in front of him, and closed his eyes. Soon, tendrils of deep pink energy swirled around his arms, and then shot straight at Annabeth, but then something really incredible happened._

_The energy bounced back, and hit Alex in the chest, knocking him across the room. Chiron gasped in surprise, as Annabeth looked up, confused. Piper then pointed out something that made the day even weirder. A bright dot had appeared right in front of us, and it swirled in a frenzy, and with a brilliant flash of light, came out the goddess we least expected to arrive: Aphrodite._

_"Alexander Steele." She spat, and it was perhaps the first time that I heard her speak so venomously._

_"I do not care whether you have my powers or not, but I will NOT allow you to force Annabeth to love you, when her heart holds no such feelings for you!" She proclaimed, and I looked at her, flabbergasted._

_"Mom, Annabeth is dating him now. He just wanted to help increase her feelings towards him—"Piper began, but Aphrodite raised her palm, making her stop._

_"I know what he had actually tried. And I disapprove of it. I know of Annabeth's true love, and I can feel the love is still possible, so I will not allow this! Consider yourself warned, son of Zeus!" she declared and left the room with another flash, as we barely had time to cover our eyes._

_For a few moments, no one said a thing._

_Then Alex got up and walked over to Annabeth, and yelled, "Really? No feelings for me, eh? Love your dead traitor of a lover if you want to so much. Still possible? Ha! Newsflash, Percy Jackson is dead. And he will remain dead. And guess what? It's over. I am breaking up with you."_

_I expected Annabeth to cry, but she looked him straight in the eye, and for a moment, I saw our old Annabeth, with the determined grey eyes. "Fine. I have no problem with that!" she retorted. For the love of Zeus, the day was going positively crazy. I really did not know what to expect next._

_~~~Flashback end~~~_

As we slowly headed out of the Big House, after Annabeth had calmed down, I noticed a girl running down the hill of Thalia's tree. I realised quickly that she wasn't one of the campers, so she probably was only just arriving. Breaking into a sprint, I ran up to her, expecting her to be chased by monsters, as is what normally happened, but surprisingly, it didn't seem like she was being chased.

"Hey kid. Who are you?" I enquired.

She gave me a suspicious look, but I smiled sincerely, which made her feel a bit more at ease. "I am Eva, I am 12, and from Phoenix. Two guys saved me from some monsters that were attacking me, and then brought me here. They told me to go to that big house over there." She said, pointing to the…well, Big House.

But I was intrigued. She mentioned two guys saving her. I did not remember any camper being sent to Arizona for a rescue mission lately. Before I could ask her anything else, a shining silver caduceus appeared over her head. Hermes had claimed her, as she looked at the symbol in astonishment.

After taking her for the orientation movie, I informed Annabeth and Piper of what she had told me. Chiron was there too, and he seemed confused, which was startling, considering the fact that he had eons of knowledge. Alex was nowhere to be found, so we decided to continue our investigations without him. When the girl returned, Annabeth, who seemed to have calmed down a bit now, asked her, "Eva, who were those two guys who saved you?"

Annabeth waited for her reply curiously. Finally she had found some mystery that she could devote her time solving, rather than wallowing in the loss of Percy.

Eva frowned, as if trying to remember, but then shrugged and replied, "They had hooded jackets on. Even in the heat of Phoenix, they kept their hoods on, so I couldn't see their faces."

I frowned and glanced at Piper. We both had arrived at the same conclusion. Whoever were the mystery rescuers, they intended to stay incognito.

"Hmm…did they give any names?" Annabeth enquired, not losing hope.

Eva seemed to hesitate for a second, and then said, "Yes. One said his name was Aphosius, the other one was named Kalki."

Those were some weird names. I tried to think about my knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology, trying to find if they were the names of some minor gods, but I drew a blank.

"Chiron, do you know of anyone of such names?" Annabeth now turned to the centaur.

Chiron frowned and tried to avoid her gaze. After several moments, he replied, "No, Annabeth. My entire life, I have never met anyone with these names." But his expression said that he did have some suspicions. But one thing that I had come to know about the wise old centaur was that he never revealed anything that might worry us, unless he's sure about it.

"Alright then. Well, thank you, Eva, for the information. Now, Piper here will take you to your cabin. I hope you enjoy your stay here. Do you have any questions of your own?" Annabeth finally said.

The 12-year-old girl just snorted, and said, "Seriously? After all that happened today, the film was the most believable thing for me. And it pretty much answered most of my questions, so nope."

Annabeth smiled, perhaps for the first time in several months. "That's great then." then turning to Piper, she added, "Now, Piper, take her to her cabin, and later show her around, please." Piper nodded and went off with the girl, as I decided to think about what all had happened today. I wanted to ask Annabeth what had Aphrodite meant, but she had immediately run off to her cabin, and I knew she needed some time alone.

As I walked back to the shrines being constructed on the far side of the camp, I asked myself, "Could today get any weirder?"

Unfortunately, the answer was: Yes.

Just as everyone finished lunch, we heard Peleus, the huge golden dragon literally whelp in alarm. Festus wasn't around, he had been taken to the Cabin 9 cave in the forest, and so, it surely wasn't him pranking the other dragon. Instead, it was a certain goddess. Who was mad. Really, really mad. At all of us.

"Who dares?" she thundered as she swung a…torch? But it certainly was no ordinary torch, as Peleus whimpered in fear. Why she would need to keep it lit in daytime was beyond me though. But I recognized the goddess, as she marched to the table where Chiron stood alarmed, and slammed another torch on it, cracking it into two. Hecate. The goddess of magic and the controller of the Mist.

Two godly visits in one day? Today was probably the day I should have stayed in my cabin. It was evident that neither of the two goddesses had come to camp to chitchat. Although most campers were unaware of Aphrodite's visit, chaos would ensue if anyone came to know what she had said. I really hoped that Hecate was mad for anything, maybe her kids were getting bullied, or maybe she didn't like the food that was burnt as offering to her; anything, except for any subject related to Percy. But I guess today wasn't my lucky day.

"The Mist is not to be played around with you fools! No puny demigod can go around thinking they can control it to their will! I am the goddess of the Mist, and only I have the right to manipulate it at such large scales!" the goddess of magic thundered.

"Lady Hecate" Chiron calmly addressed the fuming goddess, as he trotted up to her and bowed, followed by all of the campers who had been too stunned to react earlier. "Can you please elaborate on the reasons for your displeasure? It seems like you believe one of the demigods here might have tinkered with the Mist a bit—"

"Tinkered would be too small a word for what has happened Chiron! If my suspicions are correct, the gods have never been so wrong. They have committed a grave blunder! Not one, but two innocents died because of what has happened. It is a shame I could not realize this earlier, I could have stopped this from happening!"

Hecate ranted as we all gave her confused looks, as she still wasn't being specific.

"With all due respect my lady, what exactly happened regarding the Mist that could have caused this blunder, if I may ask?" Annabeth asked the goddess in a neutral tone, but her stormy eyes revealed that she was thinking furiously and the conjectures she was reaching to were alarming her beyond belief.

"You of all persons should have figured this out all those months ago daughter of Athena! How could you be so blind?" Hecate spat, as her eyes glowed with flames, which somehow reminded me of Arjun, the guy no one talked about. He was dead too, but nobody cared. Zeus wanted his existence to be forgotten, so that his connection with another pantheon would not affect the Greeks and the Romans. People rarely mentioned him now, and the only people who did were Nico, Leo, and sometimes the Stoll brothers.

"Look, if you want to hurl allegations, first state the crime. Then we will proceed with trying to find out who did it." Alex snapped at Hecate, unfazed by the fact that he was talking back to a goddess.

The goddess of magic sneered. "So this is the famed Alexander Steele, the one who bears the 'Blessing of Olympus'? Seems like yet another snobby son of Zeus to me. And you have made him your leader, isn't it demigods? Tsk, what a downfall. From the righteous son of Poseidon to…_this._" She said the last word with utter disgust, looking at Alex, whose face burned with fury. "Righteous? That Percy Jackson was long gone. He had become an attention seeking criminal, ignorant goddess! He—"

Hecate swung her torch and suddenly, a band of shining white energy sprung from it, and wrapped around Alex's mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"I cannot kill you, only because of Zeus, but I can make you shut your trap, demigod. And for Percy being held guilty for all those crimes, and not just Percy, even Arjun, the poor kid whose only experience with the Greeks was hatred, discrimination, and finally death, I have proof that all the so called eye witnesses were wrong. Someone had been manipulating the Mist, to make Percy's and Arjun's figures appear whenever there were witnesses, so that they could conveniently be blamed. One of you demigods is a traitor! That demigod has led to the death of not only a child who could have worked along side the Greeks despite his origins, but also the Hero of Olympus, the greatest of all heroes, Perseus Jackson!"

For a couple of moments, no one said a word. Everyone was stunned. Then the yelling, screaming and crying began.

Things seemed to be falling into place. And suddenly, it seemed as if a thick veil that had clouded my mind had been lifted off. No, torn away, by the sheer force of the truth. Not only me, but also it seemed Piper, Leo and Calypso had realised it too. Annabeth looked shocked, but somehow, it now seemed more like she had finally stumbled upon a clue that she had been looking for since ages. Nico frowned and glared at us in contempt, as I hung my head in shame. He had been right all along. I was blinded by my belief in the witnesses, and had been pushed to believe that Percy's reaction that fateful day had been intentionally done to try and kill Alex, which, I always knew, wasn't the case. It almost felt like something inside me had urged me to hate Percy, and that thought scared me. The only good thing was, that the urge had waned, and now had been completely destroyed by this revelation.

But for the rest of the demigods, the realization wasn't so quick. You see, the Greeks love complacency. Give them something to believe in, and once they're convinced, they would believe it and defend it until thoroughly defeated. Thus, the furor that began in the pavilion started with the demigods blaming Hecate of lies and untruths, just to destabilize their unity. Alex yelled, as soon as his light-strap was removed, "Why didn't you find this earlier then, oh goddess of the Mist? And why didn't any of your children detect this, are you intending to say they were not capable enough to detect magic at such large scales? Are you belittling your own children, in this feeble attempt to defend the son of Poseidon?" he taunted.

Saying that the goddess grew all the more angrier would have been an understatement. She literally bristled with fury, with an aura of multicolored lights streaming around her, but Alex stood his ground. "Dealing with the Mist is a tricky business, boy. I deeply regret that I could not deviate my attention from my work to check what was happening here. Who would have guessed? One of you, betraying your best hero! And it was done really skillfully too, I admit, if it had even escaped the notice of my own children." Her eyes narrowed, as the demigods still continued to protest, accusing her of siding with Percy just because he and the rest of us had saved her once before, at Epirus. But before she could say anything, a voice clear and loud cut across the crowd.

"STOP!"

Annabeth stood with her head held high, with her eyes burning with determination. Alex tried to say something, but she cut him off. "No, you shut up first, Alexander. Enough is enough!"

This confused the rest of the demigods even more. _Weren't they both in love? Why are they fighting? Didn't Annabeth herself say that Percy was no more a hero? Why is she siding with someone who is supporting that self-centered jerk? That guy, who played nasty tricks on us with the help of that freak, Arjun, just for the sake of attention? The same guy, who got jealous of Alex and attacked him?_

The whispers grew, until they started making me feel extremely uncomfortable, as Chiron pounded his hoof on the rocky floor, making everyone quiet again.

"Enough campers!" this time Chiron spoke up. He then turned to the incensed goddess and bowed, "We thank you for the information, Lady Hecate. We will try to get to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible."

"Percy's innocence will be proved. There seems more at play here than what we initially imagined." Annabeth added, only to have the goddess look at her with suspicion, and the rest of the campers in utter confusion.

"And the kid, Arjun. He died because of all of you. The first time the Greeks have a chance to form pacts with other pantheons, and we destroy it. I do not know how this ends, but for me, everyone present here is a murderer. Murderers of Arjun Armstrong and Perseus Jackson. It wasn't the hellhounds, it was all of you." And with another angry glare, the goddess of Magic disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Amidst the chaos, I realized one thing. And that was that maybe, I had been too quick to judge Percy…and Arjun. The Roman in me had made me believe in the evidence provided, but now it seems all the evidence against them was fabricated. Someone wanted Percy gone, and that someone perhaps also hated Arjun. And it seemed, that their plan had succeeded. It confused me that even after such a realization, a part of my brain still urged me to hate Percy and Arjun, but I decided to ignore it. I needed to find the truth, and for that I would have to step away from prejudice. As I hugged Piper, who had had a hard time making her siblings calm down and continue with their activities, I gazed at my brother, under whose leadership the camp had rallied. His first impression of Percy had been that of a wrong doer, so I couldn't blame him for not believing this. But then again, he had made Annabeth cheat on my best friend; although at that time I had somehow wanted to support him, but with these new allegations, I knew what I had to do.

_Alexander Steele, you are suspect number one, on my list._ I said to myself, still baffled by myself, as Alex had always tried to help the campers in their development, and had most of the time been a really good guy, except for times like this, where he prided himself to be better than Percy, not only in power, but also as a person. Maybe I was too quick to judge him. Ugh! I was too confused.

Today had been a long day. And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, a horn rang across the hill, signaling the last person who I wanted to face, was here.

My elder sister, Thalia Grace, lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Why I didn't want to meet her?

Simple.

Because…she doesn't know that Percy died.

And once she knows, I am pretty sure I'll be dead too.

~~~~~Two months later~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

We had been actively rescuing demigods now. That kid of Apollo? He was the first in the list of seven demigods that we rescued till now, after Eva. And guess what, including him, we found 2 other kids of Apollo. That dude was really…"active" in the art of having demigod children. The other four were a good mix: A son of Nemesis, a daughter of Ares (she reminded me of Clarisse, but luckily, she wasn't as annoying as her!), a son of Demeter, and lastly, the kid we were just sending across, was Samantha, a daughter of Aphrodite. She wasn't like your typical Aphrodite girl, nor was she like the tomboyish persona that Piper had, she was just simple, and seemed cute, and definitely much more humble and caring than the likes of Drew.

As we sent her off and then teleported back to our camp, which was currently situated near Chicago, I tried to think about all that had happened.

Arjun's birthday had come and gone, he prided himself to be 16 now, and dared me not to call him a kid again, which was funny. Varuna gifted him a pendant of the shape of a guitar, which could turn into a life size one whenever he felt like playing it. Surya gave him a blessing, the words for which were only known to Arjun, and he told me that I would know about it when the time was right.

Besides the happy stuff, there were also the memories, which seemed to resurface every now and then. Being so close to the camp, but yet so far, was perhaps a torture worthy of the Fields of Punishment.

In a few days, it would be the summer solstice, one of the important days, apart from the winter solstice in my Greek demigod life. Word had spread about us two "guardians" saving demigods whom satyrs hadn't reached to, and both the camps were trying to track us down. But we didn't want to be found, so we weren't going to be. Even the hunters were notified, but they couldn't find us.

Once a search team of Roman demigods almost stumbled on our camp, purely out of luck I guess, but we teleported away before they could discover us. We had help, of course, Zelus, who I knew to be one of the four siblings that were like the honor guard of Zeus, and the brother of the crazed goddess Nike, was our inside man. He helped us out of situations, although he was a bit annoying too, as he loved to brag about it whenever he got the chance. Yet, he hadn't revealed which "entity" we served, but till now, the entity seemed like a good person, as it had guided us only to help demigods. But I knew that gods always have selfish reasons, so I wouldn't be surprised if this entity turned out to be doing this only for some sort of a personal gain.

"Hey Percy, what did you think about those evil centaurs?" Arjun asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

'Hmm?" He was referring to the ones from whom we had rescued Samantha, they were like the centaurs I had fought against in Camp Jupiter, with long horns and reptilian eyes.

"It didn't seem like all of them had just gotten together to eat her. I mean, come to think of it. All these demigods were attacked by groups of monsters much larger than we presumed would come together to target single demigods. And the last of the centaurs mentioned something about his mission failing… do you think it means anything?"

I nodded in agreement. It definitely struck me odd. "I agree, there seems to be some foul play going on. But right now, all we can do is speculate. I would rather hope to continue doing what our mission is, than worry about the centaurs' mission. But still, we'll keep an eye open for what he could have possibly meant, or more specifically, who could have given him that mission."

Arjun gave me an odd look, but then nodded in agreement, as he lit the fire for our camp with a flick of his fingers.

I knew why he had looked at me that way. You see, I had become much more thoughtful and serious over the last few months, although I did have times when my old self returned, but I honestly tried to stop it from resurfacing, as it brought back memories, which in turn, brought back the pain of betrayal. From the ones I loved, cared and fought for, and of course, Annabeth. Would I be able to forgive her? I don't know. There was nothing left to forgive for. I was gone, and life had moved on. Life, I realized, cares for none, it keeps moving. And given the fact that she and everybody else already hated me, it would have been all the more easier for her.

"Hey Perce, quit making that long face! Here, have some pancakes!" Arjun cheerily handed me some, from one of these baskets that Zelus had gifted us recently, telling us that it was from the entity. You see, our tents, food, water, and other needs like that were well cared for, due to the magic items he had provided, which were to ensure that our speed and stealth remained top notch. The basket was a source of seemingly limitless food; we had to just think about what we wanted, and it appeared. The tents were able to setup on themselves, and were bigger on the inside, with a bedroom, bathroom, and a living room to relax in. They even could be folded right to the size of a penny, and Arjun had the bright idea of keeping the basket inside our tents, before folding them up, which helped us by not having to carry the basket around either.

I smiled and munched on the pancakes, and looked at Arjun, who smiled and then went back to studying about our next mission on his super-phone.

"Hey, dude."

"Yeah?" he looked at me curiously.

"You never told me though, why are you doing this with such dedication? What happened earlier in your life that makes you so loyal to people who hated you and tried to kill you? It seems like your fatal flaw might be loyalty too." I said the last part with a smirk. Athena was right. It truly was a flaw. A fatal flaw. It would have killed me, in my anguish over my loss, but this entity had given me a purpose to keep going.

"Umm… I dunno Percy. Seems like a good thing to do. So, why not? Besides, in the end, they are your family. And they did accept me as one of them initially, so they are as close to a family as I could have, barring those weird devas." Arjun smiled and said, as he fiddled with his phone.

I knew there was more to it than he let on, but I decided to let the matter go, as I nodded.

"I will take first watch, you go take rest." I told him warmly, gesturing towards his tent.

"You better wake me up for my watch. Me not waking up to my alarm clock is no reason for you to stay awake all night bro!" He complained, but then headed into his tent. "Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep, _kid_." I said jokingly, only to receive a yell of exasperation from the Indo-American boy, who threw his smelly socks at me, but then came out grumbling to retrieve them.

As the camp fell silent, I stared into the dying flames thinking of what my life had become. In a couple of months, it would be my birthday again, the time when I left camp. I ran away, and made everyone believe that I was dead. Did I really do the right thing? Maybe it could have been better if I had stayed back and reasoned with Zeus. But I knew, Zeus was definitely not the god of understanding, nor was he, a god of intelligence. Uncle Hades had given me the best opportunity to escape, and I had to take it, for the sake of my life. But what kind of life is this? When there would be no more demigods to rescue, what would I do? Should I try returning to camp?

No. They hated me. Annabeth hated me, and Alex…I guess he was a good guy; he just wanted me gone. He wanted recognition; I guess staying in the shadows all your life does that to you. I just hope he and Annabeth were getting along…I wanted Annabeth to be happy, something that I had myself been unable to make possible.

But all my pain made me think of Arjun. Sure, they hated him and wanted him dead, so his running away was a bit obvious. But he seemed to be unfazed by the hate, even when he was at camp, and his reason for trying to help them now was that…they were family. I really didn't know what went on in the boy's head. I hoped, he would be able to trust me soon to tell me more about his past, because I was sure there must be something that might have caused him to become what he is today.

~~~~~Unknown location~~~~~~

_"This is blasphemy! Unacceptable! The Lord of the Dead has played a trick, if this is true!" A voice thundered, as a figure, which stood in front of the entity to which the voice belonged, visibly flinched._

_"By what that love goddess was heard saying, it seems Percy being alive is a plausible situation, as she said that Athena spawn's love for him was still possible…but I wouldn't jump to conclusions until we have more evidence. Haven't you been able to detect him if he's alive, your Highness?" The figure said respectfully._

_"He has been invisible to me, as if he isn't on the Earth's surface, but it could very well be that someone is hiding him from me. Both him, and that wretched son of the stupid fire deity, who I presume must be alive, if the sea spawn is not dead…yet."_

_The figure nodded, and added, "We need to be extra careful from now on though, your Highness. The goddess of magic has discovered one of our tricks. The campers are still not willing to believe it, thanks to the magic of Eris, but for those most loyal to Perseus, the magic is wearing off. Also, our monster hordes targeted specifically to kill off demigods, whom the camp hadn't detected, were defeated, and the demigods claim to have been rescued by some guardians. We need to know who they are and track them down."_

_"I agree. Our offers to possible allies for a joint attack have already been sent, and we will soon launch an investigation against those blasted guardians. The hunters have been forced to move to camp, by the army of Moros, which made Artemis take a solo run in, hoping to stop them. She won't know them to be any different than a slightly larger group of rag-tag monsters, of course, due to Apate's skills, but soon they will be ready to attack Camp Half-Blood. Without their precious leader Perseus Jackson, it will fall, and then, we march to Olympus." The entity's voice laughed, a rough, feminine laughter, which would have been enchanting, if it hadn't been the waves of evil that it radiated._

_"I hope I will get my rightful reward too, after our victory, Lady Nyx?"_

_"Of course, child. But only after a complete victory."_

~~~~DUN DUN DUN!~~~~~~

**A/N: So sorry for this long wait! I had (and still have, a lot of stuff going on in life), which range from disappointments, happiness, confusion, to downright craziness. Please forgive me for that, and to make up for it, I wrote this chapter to be quite long and filled it with revelations, especially of our ****_main_**** (see the stress on "main"?) villain, that is, Nyx!**

**Things will finally spiral down to much more craziness, and nope, this isn't a CHAOS STORY!**

**But yeah, if you guys will like it, I might put a Chaos cameo, doing some fun stuff, relating it to something like, "should we follow the cliché Chaos storyline? Nah, let's watch these puny demigods (Mainly Percy and Arjun) struggle to get to the level of power that they require and get their butts kicked in the process, again and again!"**

**Anyway, reviews will be appreciated, and do let me know if you want something to be added to the story, or maybe if I made some mistake, because this plot is literally all over the place.**

**And those worrying about the Romans need not fear. They will play a major role soon too!**

**By the way, next chapter is surely going to be explosive, as Thalia is going to be really, REALLY mad.**

**Anyway, until next time, take care and stay safe!**


	11. The Royal Guard Part1

**A/N: Hey guys! I am again sorry that the last update took so much time; I finally figured out the problem though! It seems that documents sometimes don't get uploaded from the Safari web browser, so using Chrome works best for that purpose. But no worries, I have cracked the mystery, and the curse of the Safari won't hamper my updates anymore! ;)**

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent pms and followed/favorited my story, those were really helpful and encouraging. I know my story's progress has been slow, but I will surely try to build up on the pace, and explain stuff more. ****J**

**Anyway, time for the chapter that completes our line up for a soccer team! (Chapter 11, I mean, sorry, I suck at these stuff xD)**

**Disclaimer: Ain't Uncle Rick, ain't owning his stuff.**

~~~Camp Half-Blood, an hour after the hunters arrive~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

CRUNCH!

"Jeez woman, that's my best friend and your brot- YEEARRGGHHH!"

"Alright, alright! Peace! Surrender! White flags! Don't shoot anymore lightning bolts up my place where the sun doesn't shine!"

Leo was seen running, with his clothes all charred and smoking, but surprisingly, this time, it wasn't him who caused the burning.

All the campers had been sent to their respective cabins, and only the cabin counselors were there to greet the incoming hunters. But a certain huntress wanted to see a certain cabin counselor, and apparently, the certain counselor was nowhere around, and nobody was offering explanations. Finally, Chiron, the teacher who had the pain of seeing several of his best students die before his very eyes, steeled his nerves and explained it all, and thus, the fury of the certain huntress was unleashed. The cabin counselors ran for cover, and tried to give excuses, but she heard none of it.

Because, as perhaps we all know, she was Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus, and the lieutenant of Artemis. And she was furious. Really. Very. Furious.

The Greeks had thought that the worst they had seen was when Hazel had broken off all contact with them recently, as, perhaps quite weirdly enough, she had suddenly realised that Percy was innocent, and was upset that just a few "tricks" could make the Greeks betray their best hero. But this was Thalia Grace. If she gets angry, she makes it known. And to anyone who has been on the receiving end of the anger, they knew it was nothing less than their worst nightmares coming to life.

Jason lay on the porch of the Big House, with his spectacles broken into more pieces than he could count, and a bloody nose. And it was just one punch, but by the looks of it, it wasn't the last. Piper crouched beside him, tending to his wounds, as all attempts to reason with the angry huntress were in vain. Alex had scoffed at her anger, and had tried to explain that Percy had become a jerk, and had tried to hurt him, the son of Zeus, and the bearer of the Blessing of Olympus, and quite naturally, he now lay passed out on the dinner table of the Zeus cabin, with a hole in his shirt, where a lightning bolt had struck him. Thalia knew it wouldn't injure him, because being a son of Zeus, he wouldn't hurt much from the lightning, and so she knocked him out with the pommel of her hunting knife, before he could counterattack.

The Stolls were nowhere to be seen, and so were many of the other cabin leaders, including Katie (although Lou later swore that she saw Travis take her along to wherever he was hiding with his brother), Lou Ellen, Clovis, Butch and a few others. Clarisse had bowed down to the might huntress, accepting her punishment, as she realised, that the guy she had once named Prissy was just too stupid to be a jerk, but perhaps due to her realization, Thalia spared her, although the daughter of the war god remained kneeling on the ground, as if still accepting some sort of punishment. Nico smirked at the transpiring events, standing by Chiron, while holding hands with Will, as he witnessed the scene, with the hunters standing behind him and looking at their raging lieutenant apprehensively. They knew she was powerful enough to take on all of these demigods, but her doing so for a male confused them to no extent. Meanwhile Will muttered about the amount of healing he would now have to do, while Nico cheered for Thalia, pointing out to anyone who might try to retaliate. For the son of Hades, his cousin was best at teaching these people a lesson. Chiron stood in disbelief, unsure what to do, as Leo went flying overhead, screaming bloody murder, with Calypso running after him, trying to make sure he didn't hurt himself too bad.

After a few moments, all the counselors had been dealt with, but Thalia realized she hadn't found her primary target yet. Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, and her best friend.

Right on cue, the blonde appeared, with a look of defiance in her stormy grey eyes, which seemed to challenge Thalia, as they met her electric blue ones. Thalia yelled a war cry, and was just about to punch the blonde in her face, when Annabeth spoke, "I would let you hit me as much as you want, but before that, I need to talk to you about this. In private, please."

Thalia stopped. Her fist hovered inches above her best friend's face, as her spiky black hair flew around in a blazing mess, with her silver tiara balanced delicately on top. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but then nodded. "Only because you're my friend, and I expect more from you than this stupidity. But remember, Anna, I am not forgiving you for his death! And with him, that other guy whom he was trying to protect. I know Kelp Head won't protect anyone so much unless he knew they were good, so you all campers have the blood of two innocents on your hands!"

Annabeth nodded stiffly. First a goddess, and now her best friend had acknowledged one fact. They were all murderers. It wasn't the hellhounds that killed the two boys. It was them.

The two girls entered the Big House, and Chiron grudgingly stood on guard, with a look on his face that said he wouldn't allow anybody inside. Nico frowned and looked at Will, who gently nodded, as everybody else slowly huddled in a group of sore demigods, staring at the door of the Big House. Jason still sat by the porch; he knew his sister had punched him first because he was the closest, and he had tried to "reason with her diplomatically", a Roman move, which Thalia certainly didn't appreciate, but it still hurt him that his own elder sister would do something like this, albeit in anger. But, perhaps unknown to the others, he felt like he deserved it, as the revelation by the goddess of magic had shaken his belief that Percy and Arjun were guilty. He was sure that his elder sister would apologize to him later on, but right now, he was more concerned about what Annabeth had to tell Thalia. Annabeth's behavior had been erratic, and confusing to everyone, and after what he had heard from Aphrodite, it seemed like she still loved Percy, and the goddess of love implied that this love could still "be possible" which raised certain questions, all of which led to conclusions that would end with Zeus whipping out his master bolt and incinerating someone or the other.

Everyone was whispering, but then suddenly became quiet, as they heard Thalia cry out, and then Annabeth too, and everyone tensed, fearing an altercation between the once best friends, and given all that had been happening, everyone imagined the worst. After a tense few moments, the two girls emerged from the house, unharmed, but with cheeks glistening with tears.

"We will find Percy. He just can't…die. I cannot let him get away so easily." Thalia sniffled and stated, as Nico whipped up his head and looked at her questioningly.

"What Annabeth and I discussed cannot be revealed right now. I am sorry guys, for going into a rage, but you all made a terrible mistake, but I think there is more to the story than what has been revealed. Atlanta! Julianne! Take the hunters to our cabin, I will discuss with Chiron the reasons for our visit." She declared with an air of finality, her lieutenant side showing, as the huntresses called out for nodded and took their sisters towards their cabin.

Thalia then turned to Jason, who flinched and looked away, as Piper protectively wrapped her arms around him.

"I am sorry little brother, but I expected better from you. I do not know much about Alexander, but I guess, in this situation, he is the best leader we can have, so do convey my apologies to him too…whenever he wakes up." Thalia said the last part with a smirk; as she then bent down to pick up the broken pieces of Jason's spectacles.

"Sorry for this, I will send this to Hephaestus himself, and make sure he makes you a pair that are unbreakable. Sorry for your nose too, I hope it could be made unbreakable too." She smiled, trying to make Jason relax. Her little brother looked at her and grinned, adding, "But nobody can make it Thalia-proof, is it?" as he popped a piece of ambrosia that Will offered to him, and stood up, awkwardly hugging his sister, as Piper smiled apprehensively. Thalia didn't meet his eyes, as she saw Nico approach her.

"Good work there, big sis. I wish I could have done the same much earlier." Nico darkly said. As a son of Hades, he could hold big grudges, and even if he hoped that Percy and Arjun were safe, he knew for a fact that they were _gone_. They would never come back. He had spirits searching the entire country, the Underworld, even the Sea (let's say he was lucky that many boats and ships of the ancient times sunk and provided him with a plenty of ghosts, who although were pretty annoyed to return to the place of their death, still obeyed the teenage Ghost King), but to no success. It seemed, that the two supposed _criminals_ were wiped out of the face of the Earth. And he hated not knowing where. He was worried, but now that Thalia was here, he knew she would make everything all right.

~~~~~Back to present time, two months after Thalia's arrival~~~~~

ARJUN'S P.O.V.

Why do these Greek gods have so many freaking children all over the freaking country? I mean, yeah, we can teleport and stuff, but honestly, rescuing a kid from snake ladies on a sugar high from Houston, then rushing off to stop an abusive drunk uncle from hurting another demigod kid in Portland (that made Percy really mad. Although we had pledged never to kill a mortal, we never said we won't hurt one, and after what we saw, Percy made sure that the uncle was hurt. Really, _really _bad.), then without a break, we were off to rescue twin children of the blasted sun god Apollo (no offence to Surya!), all the way in Jacksonville (Percy loved the name of the city!). Now it was evening and we sat in a clearing, not far from Seattle, contemplating where we should set camp today. Teleporting to all the different places had really winded me out, and Percy was not in a good shape either, although his reasons were different. On a single day, we had had to see the face of the Camp which practically disowned him, several times, and I think I once could almost see a couple of campers on the borders, the last time we went in with the twins. Peleus, the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece had probably detected us, as he had made a happy sound when once he spotted us leaving a demigod at the border, probably because Percy used to give him little treats every now and then. The camp had started a rigorous process to find out who we were, and Percy had found out from a naiad (she swore on the Styx to keep our exchange a secret), that the lieutenant of the Hunters of the Moon Goddess, Artemis, had refused to believe in our death, and was on the prowl to catch us. She had already been assigned the task to intercept the Guardians, but she vehemently protested that she wanted to search for Percy instead. The only reason she finally agreed was that she might be able to get some information from us about…well, us. I couldn't help but smile on imagining what their expressions might be when they realize that the so called Guardians, Kalki (me) and Aphosius, were none other than us two. But for Percy's sake, I hoped she would never find us. Percy was trying his best to forget about his past and move on, but he was just keeping the emotions at bay. Seeing her might release them, and I don't want to imagine what might happen next.

But it would be difficult to stay hidden.

Zeus being Zeus had proclaimed the Guardians to be taken into custody as soon as spotted, as he refused to believe that someone would actually rescue demigods just to make sure they reach camp safely.

It was quite comical, I have barely known the god of the Skies, and had already been branded a wanted criminal. Twice. Yay. -_-

"Hey Percy, should we try contacting Varuna or Surya? I mean, it has been quite some time now that we've been doing the bidding of this "entity". I am curious about who it may be. And what he really wants?" I asked the veteran demigod, as he sat sipping his blue coke (He loves the color blue A LOT), and staring at the distance blankly.

"Hmm…I think that might be a good thing to do, because as far as I know, no being in Greek mythology would be so benevolent to demigods…I am sure there is more at play than what we can see." He said slowly, frowning a bit, perhaps at his own choice of words.

"Seems cool. Let's demand an audience with the entity. He just can't keep us in the dark for so long."

Suddenly, a brilliant flash illuminated the clearing, and we immediately rolled out for cover, unsheathing our swords.

"Quite a choice of words, nephew! As you soon might realize." And there came walking the annoying god of Water, Varuna, in his regular outfit: this time a black T-shirt with the picture of a cartoon alligator playing an electric guitar (somehow all of his shirts had that picture on them), skinny blue jeans, and a white bandanna.

"In fact, he himself requested to meet you both tonight, to thank you for your good work. He is definitely really proud of all that you both have done for him." He added cryptically, as Percy tugged at his hoodie, and asked suspiciously, "But who is he, Lord Varuna? Asking to meet us in the _night_ would seem a bit…suspicious to me." As he looked up to the skies, and I did too, as with a start I realized that it _was_ almost night already, and several stars were already peeking out, with the constellation of Percy's friend, Zoe, the Huntress, rising majestically from the East. The sun hadn't set when we had arrived here, but now it was almost dark.

"I can give you my word, Percy, that this entity, although has a shady past, is completely trustworthy, and I will personally make sure that he doesn't harm you. Secondly, he is more comfortable at night, in the darkness. You might be getting ideas about who he might be, if you think back to your myths properly." Varuna replied seriously. But before either of us could say anything else to him, a dark vortex suddenly started forming in the clearing, right between Percy and me, and the deva, who just smiled. The power that emanated from the vortex seemed to suck in all light, and suddenly, I began to feel incredibly claustrophobic, even in the open field. It seemed as if the quickly surrounding darkness was pressing down on me, like a billion tons of weight placed on my chest.

"Quite an early appearance, I must admit, I didn't know he was so eager!" exclaimed the deva of Water, chuckling to himself, as we glared at him, reading our swords at whoever might pop up from the vortex.

The vortex swirled faster, growing in size, going from deep purple to absolute black, and suddenly with an audible pop, all the pressure seemed to release and the vortex inflated to about six feet in diameter, and then solidified into the figure of a man. The man was tall and well built, and was dressed in a black business suit, and by black, I mean the blackest black that you could ever imagine. And black seemed to be his favorite color, as his coat, shirt, tie, and even his watch that peeked out of his sleeves were jet black in color. His skin on the other hand was extremely pale, as if he had never seen the sunshine, while his eyes were completely black again, but there seemed to be a certain amount of warmth in them, and then I realised that even with his intimidating looks, it felt good to see him, as he smiled at us, flashing his brilliant white teeth (thank all the sorts of gods out there that they weren't black!).

"Perseus! Arjun! So glad to finally see my two champions! I am so proud of you, children. For everything that you both have done, even after facing all the sadness and pain earlier…but nevertheless, I am certainly really glad to be able to meet you today!" as we walked over to us, offering his hand for a handshake. Before accepting it, Percy looked at him warily and asked, "Nice to meet you too, sir. But I fail to recognize you. So please tell me who you are before we can shake hands, so that I know that Varuna over there," he nodded towards the Deva, who frantically gestured him to not say what he was going to say, " and you over here are not tricking us. Given my luck, you could very well be some monster, although something tells me that it's quite unlikely. "

I breathed a sigh of relief as Percy said the last part, as I observed the wannabe batman dude flinch a bit when Percy suggested the idea of him being a monster…as if he had been compared to one before.

"Very well, Perseus. I understand your apprehension, although I must ask you to not freak out after I reveal my identity." Percy and I nodded, as he sighed and said, "I have long been seen as a villain, a meek follower of my consort's whims, even if she treated me like vermin, just because the children that she gave birth to only by herself proved to satisfy her needs of being evil and causing destruction, while the children we bore together sought for better aims, like creating friendship among people. While some of her children did improve, she herself never did, and along with her, I too came to be viewed as an evil force. For hundreds of years, I accepted my role, as the one who instills fear, but now I am tired of it. I want humanity to know that I love them and mean no harm; whatever problems are caused to them are because of my…wife, whom I have disowned recently." He became quiet after revealing the last part, obviously grieving, as from his voice it was evident that he still loved his wife, even if she was some sort of evil person. All these clues were slowly forming an idea in my mind, but I looked at Percy, as he was more acquainted with the Greek myths. He looked back at me blankly, and with an expression that said:

_I know it would probably be good if I recognized this dude already, but I have no idea who he is!_

I shook my head and continued thinking, as the guy suddenly whipped up his head, and stared at us, and said, "Tell me, young demigods, what is it that most of the mankind fears, even if it surrounds them daily?"

"Darkness? But you're not Hades, I have met Uncle several times before…" Percy muttered, but that gave me an idea, as I asked the guy apprehensively, " You are Lord Erebus, Primordial of Darkness, and husband of Lady Nyx, the Primordial of Night, aren't you?" It all made sense. I had read about the myths regarding the children of Nyx, and I did remember reading about how her kids with Erebus were nicer.

The guy sighed and nodded, "Yes child, that's me. And I am here to tell you, that Nyx is planning to destroy Olympus, with the help of several other powerful beings, and you two are the only hope that the gods have."

Oh wow. So the ones who were put on house arrest, treated like criminals, and finally had to _"die"_ to make everything alright, were supposed to _save_ Olympus. The Greeks were _amazing_. And yes, sarcasm, intended.

~~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~~

NICO'S P.O.V.

It's been two months since Pinecone Face turned up. The camp is in turmoil; she continuously pushed forward for trying to locate Percy and Arjun, but the news that she brought along with her from Artemis wasn't good.

Artemis had sensed several groups of monsters, attempting to make a move towards Camp, and even if it didn't seem like a coordinated attack, she had sent the Hunt to strengthen the Camp's defenses (much to the annoyance of Alex, who was pissed that the Moon goddess thought of him as being unable to defend the Camp himself), while Artemis herself looked around for more clues. Surprisingly though, she didn't find anything. The campers wished to relax, as it was not even one year since the Second Giant War, but Chiron insisted on strengthening up of the defenses, to prepare Camp against anything that might happen. A plea for aid and assistance was sent to the Romans, and the Athena Parthenos had long been moved to the center of the Camp, from where it seemed to project a protective aura over the entire Camp. Along with that, although Thalia wished to search for Percy, for which Zeus denied permission for, she was given the responsibility of tracking down the mysterious Guardians, who went by the names of Aphosius and Kalki, and bring them to Olympus to face the Lord of the Sky. It baffled me how Zeus could think that they had any ulterior motives…they were just trying to help young demigods from trouble, but then again, it was suspicious, as we had no knowledge about those two. Thalia only agreed to search for them as she hoped they might have some information on Percy and Arjun, something that she spoke about at the camp fire last night, and it led to an almost all out duel between Alex, and his supporters, and Thalia and her Hunters, who were always ready to defend their lieutenant. I would have joined on Thalia's side too, but Chiron requested me to help Jason, Piper and Annabeth to restrain the fight from becoming violent.

This wasn't the first time this was happening though. After the revelation from Hecate, a few campers had started doubting their earlier judgment of Percy, although they were still critical of Arjun, due to his parentage. This led to a few campers supporting me and Thalia, as we actively sought to prove their innocence, and with the fact that Zeus was becoming suspicious of whether they actually died or not, due to Thalia's conviction, things were getting tense. Frequent skirmishes happened, new campers going against the old ones, the campers that satyrs rescued going against those rescued by the Guardians, and basically, the feeling of unity among the Greeks was utterly crushed. Alex fought hard to make it seem that everything was under control, but we all knew that wasn't the case. The camp was surely dividing into three factions: one that believed that Percy and Arjun were guilty, and that Hecate was trying to defend them to repay her debt to Percy for saving her at the Necromanteion, from the clutches of Pasiphaë and Clytius; the second faction believed that Percy and Arjun were innocent, but dead, while the third that included just Thalia and me, right now, believed they were alive. I was sure dad wouldn't mess up so badly to let them just die. They had to be somewhere out there…but then again, it's really hard for demigods to stay hidden for so long, so it was definitely weird.

"di Angelo! You're on patrol, not traipsing through the meadows while thinking about nice dead stuff! So focus on that!" Clarisse yelled at me, bringing me out of my thoughts. I smirked.

Since the day Thalia and the Hunters came, Clarisse was convinced of Arjun and Percy's innocence. And to prove her loyalty to them, she had taken it up as her task to defend camp, now that Percy was gone. She, although had once been blinded by the sheer power that Alex wielded with his Blessing of Olympus, was now a changed person, which made me feel better, as I wasn't the only one supporting my brother and the Indian demigod anymore.

"You got it, Clarisse. I am sorry, just was going over some stuff in my mind."

Clarisse raised an eyebrow at me, as perhaps, I never was a really apologizing person, but she said nothing as Chris came over to her and gave her a hug from behind, which made the scowling demigod of War squeal in surprise and delight.

"Let me go Chris! I am looking over the defenses right now! No! It tickles!" she laughed a bit, as I smiled seeing the happy couple.

After a few moments, Chris turned to me and said, "Hey Nico! Will was wishing to talk to you over at the infirmary. Pay him a visit, okay? I will take over the patrol duty now anyway."

I nodded and headed off smiling. There was something about Will that just made me happy no matter how my day may be.

~~~~~Unknown location, 500 miles from Camp Half Blood~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

"Damn that Moon goddess! If it wasn't for her snooping around, we would have made much farther progress by now!" growled the tall, pale general of the army of monsters, Moros, the god of Doom, and the Son of Nyx. After the war against the Olympians is won, and it _will be_ won, he would be the ruler, under the guidance of his mother.

But currently he was in a state of unbridled rage. The army had been given two tasks, hide until ready to strike, and hunt down the two so called Guardians, who had been killing off his monsters, whom he had been specifically sending to finish off demigods before they could reach the blasted camp.

Apate, his maniacal sister, and the Goddess of Deceit, had made the first task easy, but they had been utter failures on the second task. Nobody knew where the Guardians were, and the speed with which they travelled, indicated that they probably had the ability to teleport too, which might mean that they are minor gods…but no. Kalki, and Aphosius…Neither name reminded him of anyone, unless, they had learnt a trick or two from his sister and were using aliases.

But then the god of Doom had an idea.

"Cyclops! Get the Royal Guards ready. Send them for tracking down the most powerful demigod scent around. The Guardians are bound to appear to save their precious demigods, and then we will capture them!"

He then continued to explain the intricacies of the plan to his faithful monster, and then cackled, "Isn't that such a brilliant plan, _my dear friend_?" Moros hissed threateningly, leaving no room for argument, as the Cyclops we last saw covered in peanut butter nodded his head vigorously.

"Sir, yes sir!"

~~~~~Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan~~~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Memories.

That's what hit me hard the second we teleported to the location where our next rescue operation was supposed to be. I stood by the very fountain, where it all began, where Nancy Bobofit bullied Grover, and I had called the waters of the fountain to pull her in. I realized with a start that Grover hadn't been around when I had been sentenced as a criminal, when I had been _betrayed. _

He never saw what happened, and he never knew what Alexander had stolen from me: The love of my life. No…

She _was_ my life. I didn't know if he knew what happened by now, or what he thought of me. Given all the so-called "crimes" that all the campers believed I committed, I believe they had already convinced him of me going rogue, and then dying. I didn't know what to think about it, but like Varuna had countless times advised me, I tried to let go of the past and move on. But it was hard, especially when I had to face the very memories that I was trying to forget, every time, and every single day. Seeing camp whenever Arjun and I went there to send another demigod across the border… it used to reopen the wounds that I tried to close.

_They are happy that you are dead! They wanted you gone, and now you have! Stop thinking like you're still connected to that place, because you aren't! You are not needed and whatever you do won't change the fact that—_

I forcibly stopped the voice. It had been irritating me since the time we left camp almost a year ago. I couldn't place a finger on it, as it sounded like male and female, and even neither, all at the same time, and it sought to amplify my worst feelings of sadness. It made me feel as if the Cocytus River was flowing all over me all the time, but with all the pain of the Acheron. I couldn't describe what it could be, and the only thing about it that I knew was its name: _Algos_, or quite simply, sadness. It all made sense though, now that we knew we were against the Primordial of Night, Nyx. I didn't know what she was planning, but I believe her children would definitely be in the fray, trying to prove themselves to be better than the others. If I remember correctly, there was one minor child of Nyx named Algos, but his or her history was too vague to hold much importance, and I believe, due to the same reasons, Nyx hadn't tracked me down yet through her child.

Annabeth… and me had pissed Nyx and her children royally, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the main reasons for which Nyx was rising was to get revenge on us. If that would be the case, I would make sure that she could never hurt Annabeth. Because even after all this, even after I caught her kissing Alexander Steele, the most powerful demigod with the sneaky Blessing of Olympus, right on the day that I was going to propose to her, and even after she and the others agreed to have me punished for trying to attack Alex, for all the crimes that I didn't commit and for protecting Arjun, the demigod son from another Pantheon, she was still the only person I could truly love, and along with her, the entire camp was the only family that I ever had. If Nyx tries to harm them, she would have to deal with me…if not with Percy Jackson, she would be dealing with Aphosius, _the betrayed one_. Yes, that's what the name means, and that's why it is so important to me. Because now, this name defines my life. I knew I was building in a lot of emotions, I felt like my mind had huge mental dams constructed around my thoughts, and anytime now, the dams would crack, and I did not know what to expect when the emotions flow through me, unhindered.

I was snapped out of my thoughts, as we entered the Greek art section of the gallery, as Arjun had deduced that it would be the perfect place to start searching from. We'd earlier seen a school group in the Roman section, and they were headed towards the Greek section now, so that would perhaps be the best bet after all. My eyes took in the sight of the stele I had first seen, and the image of Zeus cutting up Kronos.

"Percy, we are drawing closer, it seems there's not one, but three demigods here, and a satyr accompanying them too." Arjun stated carefully, checking his super phone, while looking around from the corners of his eyes, for any monsters that might be sneaking up. We had received a high alert signal, but oddly enough, there didn't seem to be any monsters at sight.

"Seems funny, normally we let the satyrs handle the demigods that they're protecting, and there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger either…" I noted.

Unless…

The rest of the class had moved on to the Egyptian section, but two teachers, and about four students seemed to remain in the gallery of Greek art, apparently engaged in a conversation. It seemed pretty normal, until I noticed one of the students. He was shifting on his feet nervously, staring at the teachers, and then back at his friends. His gait was a bit wobbly and I realized with a start that this was the satyr sent for the rescue mission. That would mean…

"Percy!" Arjun hissed and pulled me behind a pillar. From there, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed before. There were just too many security personnel in the gallery. Four of them patrolled the area, and they were slowly coming closer…and the two teachers had now got the students in a corner, and I observed that they were growing. Their shirts got tighter and tighter, then with a sudden collective tear, their shirts ripped revealing huge seven feet tall bodies, bulging with muscles, and behind them, I saw the four security guys transforming too.

The students, probably 14 year olds, screamed in surprise and fear, as the two guys among them stood protectively in front of the one girl, while the satyr was fiddling with his pipes.

_Jason, Leo and Piper. _I subconsciously thought, my ADHD springing up randomly, but then pushed the thought away, concentrating on the mission.

Within seconds, the six monsters surrounded them, each with one single eye, trained at the demigod children, with hunger and savagery evident in their expressions. _Cyclopes_.

Crap, this would be difficult. Cyclopes were intelligent monsters, and large groups of them could be quite difficult to handle.

But we had to do this. The lives of the demigods and their satyr protector were at stake.

"Let's do this, bro." Arjun whispered, unsheathing his iridescent red sword, which he had named Inferno, and I unsheathed Riptide, which was no more in pen form to avoid detection, and also was a beautiful cobalt blue in color. With a defiant yell, we charged at the Cyclopes, trying to draw their attention away from the kids.

"Aphosius! Kalki! Glad you could make it, oh so mighty Guardians. My master has heard a lot about you both. The air of secrecy around you two intrigues us. But because you both have been causing problems to us, we'll have to…_deal with you_." The lead Cyclops said, with a tone that made it evident that we wouldn't like the methods in which they would deal with us. It was surprising that he had chosen to leisurely address us rather than attack us directly, or take the demigod kids hostage, but I didn't want to ask him about it.

He was one of the two Cyclopes that posed as teachers (I have no idea how they managed that! xD), but there was something eerie about him. His words showed a level of intelligence far beyond those of ordinary Cyclopes, and the aura around him was definitely more threatening than even Polyphemus, one of the most powerful Cyclopes that I had ever crossed paths with. I slowly realized that all the Cyclopes present in the room had the same, dark aura around them, which made me a bit apprehensive.

"They are blessed by Nyx, or some minion of her, I guess." Arjun stated his observations, as we slowly approached the Cyclopes. Thankfully, the satyr had used the distraction we'd created to drag away the three demigods to safety, taking them deeper into the museum. The Cyclops who had addressed us earlier noticed the direction in which I was staring, and stated nonchalantly, "For once, don't worry about them. We are here for you, Guardians." He spat the last word with contempt, as I frowned. This was the first time that any monsters had directly planned on attacking Arjun and me.

"You are here for us, is it? Alright then, let's show you how we deal with our monster friends, just like you!" Arjun yelled and charged at the lead Cyclops, who roared back and took a battle-axe from one of his buddies who had posed as a security guard and blocked his strike.

_Damn it. _

_He had to go for the lead guy_. I thought to myself, as I struck one of the remaining Cyclops, ducking out of the way from a jab from another one's axe, as the other two were seemingly fiddling with their torn security guard uniforms. I almost breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't attacked yet, when I noticed suddenly that I had counted only 5 of them.

There were six, when we entered. Suddenly, the last one erupted in front of Arjun, bringing down a huge wooden club. My eyes widened in fear, as I kicked at one of the Cyclops attacking me, and slashed Riptide across the other, as Arjun frantically jumped out of the way, as the club slammed into the ground at the very spot where he had been standing earlier. With a quick flick, Arjun blocked another attack by the leader, as he jabbed his sword towards his unprotected chest, pushing him backwards.

We were heavily outnumbered; as I saw the two remaining Cyclopes join the fray, wielding clubs that appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Even in this dire situation, we decided to proceed as we'd been taught. We fell into the rhythm according to which the two devas had trained us, fighting in a style where we perfectly complemented each other's moves. We were soon forced to fight back to back, as we kept shuffling around, rotating between the six enemies, as we continued to stay in the defensive. _Cut, slash, block, jab._ The simplest routine ever, something that I've done since I was 12, but now we had to improvise, mainly because we couldn't afford to make moves that might be too risky, so blocking had to be done more than I would personally like.

A lucky shot from one of the club wielding Cyclopes caught me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me, as I was momentarily dazed. Arjun realised this and swifter than the Cyclopes could perceive, took out a hunting knife and threw it at the Cyclops who had hit me. The knife buried itself deep into the monster's shoulder, making it roar in pain.

"Foolish child! You dare try to hurt me?" He bellowed.

"That was the idea dude." Arjun replied with gritted teeth, as he fended off another attack from one of the monster's buddies, while the Cyclops roared in rage.

I internally face-palmed. So _that_ was how annoying I sounded while being sarcastic. It was almost funny seeing someone else sassing the mythical world for once, but I would certainly up my game.

"Hey ugly!" I yelled, taking the attention of literally all the Cyclopes from the both of us to solely on me. "Seems like you all realize the truth about your appearance." I winked and stated, not that they could see the wink, with the hood being down.

"WE ARE THE ELITE SOLDIERS OF LADY NYX! YOU DARE DISRESPECT US! WE SHALL SHOW YOU YOUR PLACE, FOOLISH GUARDIANS! " Their leader thundered, as he swung his axe at me. Blocking his strike, I concentrated on all the water vapor around me, directly pulling out some water from the pipelines underneath and created a huge sphere of water, which I then slammed into all the Cyclopes. Just when they thought the worst of the hit was over, I converted the drops and streams of water flowing across the room after the hit into ice shards, which then hit the Cyclopes like thousands of bee stings, making them scream in agony.

Roaring in bloodlust, two of the Cyclopes brandished their clubs and charged at us, but I calmly side-stepped, and faster than the Cyclops that had decided to attack me could even realize, drove Riptide deep into the side of his chest.

"Uh Oh." He paled and disappeared in a swirl of monster dust. 1 down, 5 more to go.

I turned around to see a red blade sticking out of the back of the other Cyclops, as Arjun grinned at me.

"4 more, bro!" He yelled, as we charged at the remaining Cyclopes.

The leader was a bit more wary now, as he let his three minions attack us first. Arjun spewed a column of fire, and the Cyclopes laughed, because they were obviously fire-resistant. But what caught me by surprise was that Arjun seemed to know about it, as he used the flames as a distraction and slashed the chest open of another Cyclops, quickly dispatching him to Tartarus. Capitalizing on the shock of the other two minions, I drove Riptide into the knee of one, and then sliced upwards, cutting him into two before he went back to Tartarus.

Now only the two who had posed as teachers, were remaining. The last of the minions had immediately backed out, and now scowled at us angrily, obviously not pleased with the way we sent his brethren back to Tartarus.

"Impressive display, I must say, Guardians. If I hadn't been aware of the circumstances, I would have actually suspected one of you to be a famous hero…A hero, that all of the monster kind hate with an undying passion!" He gazed pointedly at me, as I kept my emotions neutral.

"We are not anybody you've ever known, nor anybody you'll ever know and live to tell a tale about. We are the Guradians, Aphosius, and Kalki, the bane of all monsters and those who harm the innocent!" I declared, to which the leader just burst out laughing.

My cheeks turned to a deep shade of red. That was definitely not the reaction I expected.

"Powerful words, Aphosius, but are you powerful enough to match my level? Lady Nyx herself has blessed me, and the night is known for its trickery, don't you know? Turn around, little guardian. And witness your death."

My body became rigid as I felt the presence of some monsters behind me. I turned quickly, while keeping one eye on the leader. There, stood six of the largest, most heavily armored, and seemingly battle hardened Cyclopes I had ever encountered, holding fearsome sabers and battle-axes, each weapon about as long as my own body. The Cyclopes had pure black eyes, with no white showing, and were surrounded by an aura of pure malice. The darkness around them seemed to seep into the walls, trying to spread throughout the room and claim it as a part of the realm of Night. Their armor seemed to be impenetrable, made with a mix of Stygian Iron and Celestial Bronze, covering their giant bodies.

"Behold! The Royal guards of Prince Moros, son of Lady Nyx, and the God of Doom! No one who has battled them has survived to tell the tale, and you both would be no different!"

Damn it.

We had been ambushed.

And there was no way out.

Nodding towards Arjun, we charged at the monsters, probably swinging our swords together for the last time.

~~~~~~~Unknown location~~~~~~~

_"That huntress hasn't found him or that glow stick friend of his yet. Judging by their skill, I would say the only way to evade detection would be to be dead, so I think we should calm down about Percy and Arj—"_

_"SILENCE!" the darkness roared in a feminine voice, making the person standing in front of her to shiver. Even though the secret informant was fully armored and had his weapons by his side, this was Nyx, the Mistress of Night. One false move and she could obliterate his existence._

_In a threatening whisper, Nyx continued, "I sense something fishy here. Even if the sea scum and that friend of his were to be dead, we still have to deal with these Guardians that have popped up recently. Moros has sent his Royal Guard to capture them, and once we do, we'll know about what powers they possess and who exactly they are. If Perseus and Arjun are still alive, I have a feeling the Guardians can lead us to them. We CANNOT calm down about this matter! There's an entirely different pantheon involved, and I wished to eliminate Perseus and Arjun for a reason!"_

_The informant gulped and nodded, unsure about what his reply should be._

_"Let the huntress do what she wants. If she does find them to be alive, kill them, and then let the gods go into turmoil, as Zeus would realize the treachery of his elder brother." Nyx cackled, and the darkness seemed to ripple, as if celebrating the malice of her voice._

~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

Amidst all the confusion, the blaming, the cries of anger, and sadness, there was one figure that had stayed silent, watching everything, bearing everything.

With the revelation from Hecate and the actions of Thalia Grace, the famed daughter of Zeus overpowering her with the realization, that her own gnawing self-doubt might just have been correct, the figure, who we now know was a girl, went through the camp quietly, following her schedule perfectly everyday. Yet, her mind was a million miles away, her calculative greyish-green eyes, staring off into the distance.

_He was always an outcast, even then, even now. Even in life, and even in…death. _

_Why did he just have to smile and continue being good to everyone, good to her, when they all used to treat him like shit? Why didn't he lash out? Why didn't he ever ask for the company and acceptance that he deserved? _

She had observed him for several years, not out of any particular interest, but just because he was unpredictable, and it surprised her always, the way he behaved. She didn't have any feelings of fondness for him, even after knowing him for so long, he was just an acquaintance, not even a friend…yet, he treated her, if not everyone else as the best friends he could ever get.

_Did he never feel hurt? Did he never wish to be cared for? Did he even realize that people noticed him only when he was particularly needed? What was the untold story that hid behind that smile? _

Now…she didn't even know if she could ever find the answers to her questions. Just like a sister of hers, who was lost in her own personal misery right now, she too hated not knowing answers.

_No._ She thought. Thalia is right; they can't just…die like that. He can't just go away form her life like this!

She needed to talk to the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo. She needed to find _him._

She was Gloria Shaw, in search of the demigod who entered camp with her, Arjun Armstrong.

**A/N: Sorry for being so late again guys, stuff is happening that keeps me busy all the time. xD **

**And I just had to add the last part about Nyx and the thing about Gloria, even though leaving you guys on a cliffhanger would have been much better. ;)**

**Anyway, thanks for those sticking with me, you guys always motivate me to keep going. Do suggest me your ideas on making this story better, or suggestions to improve character development and their behavior. **

**And YES! Gloria is back! Those who thought that she was a minor character, think again! ****J**** I mean, come on, everyone is all concerned about Percy, but no one gives a thought to poor little Arjun. xD**

**Also guys, was the fight scene good until now? As you might guess, this was just the warm up, because hey, they're still IN the museum, first we gotta get them out, and then fight (or attempt to fight ;) ) the Royal Guard! Do suggest me changes in the action sequences though, this is the first time for me writing them. **

**Anyway, until next time, take care and stay safe!**


	12. The Royal Guard Part2

**A/N: I dunno when I would be posting this, but first of all, I must apologize to one of my amazing readers, vthecasualwriter, whose review was really so encouraging, and I like an idiot that I am, forgot to read my reviews and saw it only now. xD I guess vthecasualwriter can predict now how slow I am at churning out chapters, once this gets uploaded. ;)**

**Anyway, to keep track of my reviews, I will reply to them here too:**

**Guest: ****It's good hope u make more chapters. **

**/ Don't worry my friend, I am trying my best to bring out the chapters as fast as possible, and I hope you like the turns the story will be taking.**

**Guest: ****"I do not know much about Alexander, but I guess, in this situation, he is the best leader we can have". What the F**k?**

**/ xD If that's how you felt, then mission achieved, for me. ;) Let me explain why Thalia said that though. As most of the campers are blinded by the belief that Alex is the best hero and their leader, given that he has the Blessing of Olympus (who's full power I have yet not revealed), and is favored by Zeus, and also the fact that Eris seems to have done something to mess with the minds of the campers (although she is just a small part of the main reason), hence Thalia knows that for now, he should be accepted as a leader. As readers, we hate him, but if you are a camper, who interacts with a guy, who seems nice, (as long as you don't hurt his pride), and seems to be the coolest demigod around, wouldn't you end up accepting him? The story is thus designed that we hate him, but Alexander might just turn out to be a relatively good guy too. He might not be as evil as we perceive him to be, and as I would reveal in this chapter, he has a good side too. ;) I have a lot planned for my OCs, and as of yet, anyone of them can turn over to the dark side. So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Without further ado, let's go to chapter of the Olympian number, that is, 12!**

**Disclaimer: Nah, not Uncle Rick yet. Tried, but I just can't seem to exchange places with him. ;( Tell me if you find a way. ;)**

ARJUN'S P.O.V.

With a defiant yell, Percy jumped up and slammed a wave of water on the first of the Royal Guards, as I took on another, while the three of the previous group of Cyclopes seemed to be closing in on us from behind.

For the first time in several missions, I was scared. We were surrounded by some of the most powerful monsters that I had ever encountered, and they seemed to be determined to make us hurt.

My eyes widened in shock, as the Cyclopes whom Percy had hit, casually brushed off the water from his armor and locked his saber with Percy's sword, a feat that made me respect Percy all the more, as the monster's weapon was about thrice as long as Riptide. But Percy couldn't hold him back for too long. The sheer brute strength of the monster was too much for him, and he was already panting from the effort.

We were slowly being pushed to the farthest corner of the room from the exit, and I knew that if they were successful at pushing us into the small space, we would be in trouble. We needed to get out, as soon as possible. I realized that Percy couldn't call on his most powerful elemental attacks because we were inside the museum.

I turned around, searching for a way out, when I spotted the satyr and the three demigod kids scrambling towards the exit. At the last moment, the satyr turned and looked at me straight in the eye, and with a start, I realized that I knew him. In fact, Percy knew him _really well_, and it was only a miracle that he hadn't recognized him earlier. Then again, we had been concentrating on the Cyclopes too much, when we entered. The satyr nodded in my direction, and took out his Panpipes, and started playing a frantic tune. Suddenly roots as thick as my wrists erupted from the ground and started covering all the Cyclopes, and the satyr started glowing with a greenish aura.

Percy froze mid strike, slowly locking eyes with the satyr (who probably couldn't see Percy's eyes due to the hood), and for a moment, it seemed as Anaklusmos might slide out of his hand and clatter on the floor. A shudder of recognition seemed to travel through the body of the son of Poseidon.

"Gr—" he mumbled, but the satyr yelled, "No time! I don't know how long I can hold them, but it's time to go! You can't fight them inside, their power would make this building collapse!" he almost bleated out the last part, but his eyes were calm and collected, as he ran up to us (he had taken off his shoes and was running on his hooves, which made him really quick), and pulled Percy along.

"Kalki! You too! Nobody is staying back as a distraction!" he yelled at me.

_Damn it. How could he guess my plan so easily?_

"I know that you were going to do exactly that because I've been in company with a fair share of demigods all too willing to sacrifice their butts off at the slightest opportunity!" He explained, and I nodded.

How else should I react to that statement anyway?

We rushed out of the museum, as I saw the three kids huddled up by the fountain.

On noticing them, Percy seemed to come back to his senses, and stood in front of them protectively, while urging, "I know you guys are scared, but don't worry. Everything will be alright. I am Aphosius, and this is my friend Kalki. We will protect you to the death, although we don't really prefer dying. " Percy smirked at the last part, some of his old carefree nature showing. "So we need to run. Let's go!"

Several roars emanated from the museum, as the mortals around us seemed to be repulsed by it; all the vehicles seemed to swerve away from the museum, and I noticed no one was walking across the pavement either.

Loud thumping noises came from the museum, and I knew the monsters were free.

"Go, go, go, go!" The satyr commanded, pushing the demigods forward, only to be pushed forward by Percy and I, as we guarded the back. We ran towards Central Park, aiming to use the foliage to our advantage, and judging by who the satyr was, maybe get a few dryads to help us escape. Turning my head as we crossed the road, I saw the leader of the Cyclopes emerge, swinging his battle-axe. He snarled as for a moment he couldn't locate us, but then one of his minions pointed at us, as from the back, the rest of the Royal Guard arrived. To buy us a couple of more seconds, I created a huge ball of fire and threw it right at the Royal Guards, momentarily distracting them. But I knew my powers wouldn't work against them, so I decided to change my tactics, and fired a stream of flames right into the fountain, making it bellow with swirling steam, effectively blinding them. I then ran back to catch up with Percy, Grover and the demigods.

As we reached Central Park, Percy and I readied our super phones for teleportation, as the satyr and the demigods already looked winded and we needed to get them to safety.

"Aphosius, we need to get away from here, now. We cannot lose another moment, we—" the rambling satyr was cut off by a gasp of pain, as Percy fell down to his knees. One of the Cyclopes had flung his wooden club at him and it had hit him in the back, knocking the air out of him.

The girl screamed, as the two guys had similar expressions that just conveyed, "_So much for being our Guardians_"

"Kalki, go…" Pery wheezed, standing up slowly. "Take them to camp with you, and stay there. I will hold these idiots back." His voice was deathly quiet, and I was afraid that maybe on seeing the satyr, his emotions were finally going to be released; something that I had grown to be wary of.

"We are not going anywhere without you" I said, and I realized the satyr had said the same. He helped Percy stand up, and kept his hand over his shoulder and said, "They told me that camp lost two great heroes, who had been wronged. I never believed them, and decided to search for the enigmatic Guardians…the ones who could provide me my answers. And now here you are, Aphosius, and Kalki." He nodded at both of us, but then directly stared at Percy, and added, "And even after you became Aphosius, one thing of your past life still remains." I stiffened. _No, this can't be happening, not so soon!_

"The psychic link…"Percy whispered in a barely audible voice.

"You're not such a Seaweed Brain after all, are you?" smirked the satyr. "It's good to see you again, both of you, and I am not letting either of you die. This is a promise, by the Lord of the Wild."

"Grover…"Percy seemed to be in a trance, as tears streamed from under his hood, but then he seemed to become stoic, and said, "We may die anytime, even today, if that's how it is to be. There's no predicting what the Fates might have in store for us. But I will protect you and these demigods with whatever I've got. Just…promise me to not reveal anything about us when you return to camp."

"On the River Styx, bro." Grover, the satyr best friend of Percy smiled, but then he paled, as the Royal Guards had arrived, all nine of them, while thunder rumbled in the skies, marking Grover's oath to be binding.

"Oh poor Guardians, couldn't escape after all, could you? Don't worry, we won't harm these puny demigods or the satyr that you've been chatting oh so happily with, if the both of you come with us quietly. You both would come with us anyway, as you're too incompetent to defeat us, so let's make things quicker, alright?" The leader spoke in mock concern.

"How about…nope?" Percy gritted his teeth and replied.

"So be it." The leader grinned, as all the Cyclopes converged, swinging their weapons threateningly at us. "We were hoping that you would say that, Aphosius. Our lord would certainly not mind, if we brought you both to him in…_pieces_." One of them laughed maniacally and said, as I sent Grover and the demigods deeper into the wooded area of the Park, hoping that they would be safe.

"Seems like all you Royal Guards can do is blabber nonsense! In that aspect, normal Cyclopes are better than you, at least they actually _try_ to fight us." I taunted, knowing that it was an empty threat to their pride, but nonetheless, the expressions of the Cyclopes were good enough to see.

"And you, Guardians, choose to run away rather than putting up a decent fight! After we take you captive, we will rip the limbs off these demigods that you were trying to protect, and kill them slowly, right in front of your eyes, with their blood soiling the ground that you stand on! As for the satyr, we will make sure that he cannot reform in any form any time soon!" retorted a burly Cyclops, the largest one of the Royal Guard, who brandished a broadsword, totally forgetting what his leader had promised moments ago. "And then, we will lead the army of Lady Nyx to destroy the camps; every demigod that you have rescued shall die! Every demigod that you have known shall die! We—" A low rumble cut his speech short, as the ground erupted around him, as huge blocks of stone burst out, like the jaws of a shark coming out of the sea to catch its prey, and clamped down the Cyclopes, drawing…golden ichor? Wasn't that the blood of the immortals? Probably, these monsters had been granted immortality. Seems like they give it to just about anyone these days. I shook my head, trying to concentrate on what just happened.

All the other Cyclopes gasped in shock and turned towards Percy, who had raised his palm and then closed his fist, trapping the Cyclops in his personal prison of stone.

"Silence, monster. This ends here." He stated threateningly. The other Cyclopes flinched and looked towards the prison of their brother in surprise, as he suddenly seemed to start screaming in pain, and ichor dripped out of the cracks in the stones. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the screaming stopped, and the walls of stone opened, almost like a flower blooming, revealing…_nothing inside_, except the broadsword.

"He's gone." One of the Cyclopes stated.

"He's dead." Percy explained emotionlessly.

"Impressive, you have more skills than we have been made aware of, Aphosius. Then again, we knew nothing about you. That being said, CHARGE!" the leader roared as the remaining 8 Cyclopes yelled in anger for their fellow Guard's death and like a tidal wave, fell upon us.

Giving a defiant yell of our own, we met their strike, dodging their weapons that threatened to slam us down to the ground with their sheer weight, and attacking them whenever we could find an opening.

The devas had taught us well. Every strike using our elements, every swing of the sword, was executed with such perfection that I couldn't believe that it was us who did all that; even Percy would agree that our skills a year ago were laughable, in comparison to what we could do now. But, it was not enough. The Royal Guards were trained to protect _Moros, the God of Doom, _and Nyx had _blessed_ them. A modest estimate of their strength would be that they could take down a couple of Olympian gods at ease. And although Percy and I have become quite powerful due to the training, we still aren't as powerful as the Olympians. Yes, we had killed a few of the Cyclopes, but that had been when they were caught off guard, or were blinded by rage. Right now, they were a trained unit of killing machines, who were intent on injuring us badly, if not kill us.

Slowly but surely, we were tiring, and were being pushed back, and panic started bubbling at the back of my mind as I realized that we were being pushed deeper into the woods, and the Cyclopes were just toying with us now. Percy swirled and slashed like a madman, but he wasn't being allowed to use his elemental powers over the earth or water as the Cyclopes kept him busy in dodging their weapons. My fire attacks were pretty much useless, so I had to stick to my sword, Inferno. To my right, I could see Percy flinch as one of the battle-axe wielding monsters was able to graze his arm, cutting through the fabric of the jacket and drawing blood, but he still continued to fight, Riptide flashing around him in a blur of motion. But how long could he continue? I had no idea. As for myself, I had taken quite a few hits too. A big bruise formed across my back due to a club slamming into it, and I had another cut on my shin by a saber.

"What happened, my dear Guardians? Feeling a bit winded, I presume?" the leader taunted, as he swung his battle-axe in a deadly arc towards Percy's neck. Instinctively, the son of Poseidon ducked and turned, swinging Riptide across the armor of the leader, but it didn't even make a dent. After the flurry of sparks caused by metal striking against the metal of the armor faded, the armor still looked as good as new.

Percy cursed colorfully, and the Cyclops bellowed with laughter, as he said again, "Oh poor little Aphosius is getting frustrated it seems. With your friend Kalki being as useless as he is in helping you right now, don't you think it would be best to come along with us quietly? It would save you from the pain."

I flinched as Percy snarled, "He's not useless, Cyclops. I shall destroy you like every other rogue Cyclops that ever crossed my path!" After the display of power in killing the first of the Royal Guards by encasing him in stone, I knew Percy would be tired, but he was rapidly losing control of his emotions, and that kept him going; pushing beyond his limits. I realized that he was just running on adrenaline and anger right now.

His body seemed to be writhing with barely contained rage as a whirlwind started buffeting around him, pushing the Cyclopes back momentarily. But then, their auras seemed to darken again, and they charged at Percy all at once. I tried to help him, but there were just two of us, and eight of them. Three of them swung their weapons at me, and I was cornered among the trees, spinning and jumping to dodge their attacks, while slicing Inferno through the air, hoping to get a lucky swipe, but the Cyclopes kept me at bay. One wooden club hit me in the stomach and bile filled my mouth as I buckled over and fell to my knees. I rolled away, to dodge another strike by the Cyclops that was wielding the club, but I was unable to land a blow, and the spots dancing in front of my eyes didn't help me at all.

"Poor Guardians. Battered and bruised, trying to protect demigods, who wouldn't give a damn about them once they reach that camp. Why do you try to save them, Aphosius? Haven't you heard how ungrateful they can be? Let me tell you a tale then. The tale of a demigod known as Perseus Jackson, Hero of Olympus!" I took a sharp breath as I realized that either the Cyclops had found out our secret, or was using the taunts to break Percy, as he had seen him get heavily affected by his words.

For the next ten minutes, I jumped over the saber, battle-axe and club of my attackers, swinging my sword in a blur of crimson, with my hooded (and now frayed and cut into pieces, although somehow the hood remained on) jacket trailing behind me, while the leader of the Royal Guard repeated everything that had happened at Camp several months ago.

"So you see, my dear Guardian," He concluded leisurely, as he met Percy's sword, Riptide with his battle-axe again, causing a resounding clang to echo through the park, " Demigods are selfish. They found a, as you kids say it, "cooler", more powerful person to follow in the form of Alexander Steele, who, I admit is one of the demigods we need to kill first, unless he pledges his allegiance to Lady Nyx, and chose to discard the twice Hero of Olympus, Perseus Jackson. All those crimes against those cabins…were they actually committed? Of course not, Aphosius! It was all a trick, to weed out Perseus, and his upstart freak friend Arjun. Lady Eris surely had a lot of fun, creating all the strife in Percy's life!"

An idea began forming in my head. Perhaps the demigods really didn't mean to say all that? Maybe they had been misguided by Nyx to blame Percy and me?

What the Cyclops said next soon put my doubts to rest. Although I wish he didn't say that.

"But strife does not occur, when there is no resentment in the heart, Aphosius. So even if Eris meddled with the life of the sea scum, she just added the special effects. She just brought the darkest feelings in the hearts of the demigods to the forefront. That is why a few people were relatively unaffected. But, moral of the story is, that the demigods and the gods are a selfish lot. Why don't you join us, oh Guardians? You would certainly be a great fit into the army of Lady Nyx."

"And why don't you shut up, monster?" Percy yelled, his voice cracking, as he jumped over the thigh of one of the Cyclopes attacking him, and buried Riptide to the hilt into the chest of other, the one who had disguised himself as a teacher along with the leader, making him disappear in a burst of yellow dust. The leader snarled in fury on seeing this, as that was probably his best buddy, and his personal assistant in all his Royal Guard matters. To say he was pissed would be an understatement.

"Enough! It seems talking would not bring this matter to a close. You both have killed 5 members of the elite twelve member squad of the Royal Guards, and now, I will have to kill you both in self defense" The leader declared and charged at Percy, picking up the battle-axe of his fallen comrade and attacking Percy with two weapons at once.

"You think the Royal Guard is so mighty? I will kill all of you, rip your black hearts out and throw them into the face of your Mistress! No one, not gods, Titans, Giants, monsters or even the Primordials will be allowed to touch the demigods!" Percy thundered, his pent up anger blowing out of proportions, as the Earth rumbled around us with rocks and mud flying into the air, catching the Cyclopes unawares. Percy's expression was distorted with rage, pain, and sadness, and a steady stream of tears flowed from below his hood. The Cyclopes couldn't see it, but I could see his eyes, which were pale and broken, a deathly shade of green that was so unlike the bright emerald eyes for which all the girls of the Aphrodite cabin once swooned for.

Riptide was a blur of motion, swinging and hacking away at the remaining four Cyclopes that circled around Percy. For a moment, I thought he would kill them all in his rage, but I could already sense him tiring. He was running on zero energy, the only thing that kept him going now was the rage that the leader had built in him with his words.

Even I was tired, currently fighting completely in the defensive against the three Cyclopes that had me cornered. I couldn't land even a single blow, and it seemed as if the Cyclopes were just waiting for me to get tired and surrender, to humiliate me in my utter defeat.

I remembered what the leader of the Cyclops had said: I was useless. I was a freak who never belonged to Camp Half-Blood, and I destroyed Percy's life by being his friend. Perhaps he might have been better off, had he not chosen to defend me in front of the Olympian Council, when they had tried to sentence me to death as I was the son of a Hindu god. My feelings of self-hate intensified, as I saw Percy's burst of energy waning, as his swings started to become slower. Soon, he would be overwhelmed, and these monsters would kill him, soon followed with my own death. And that was to say if they didn't kill me off first. I shuddered to think what they might choose to do with the demigods and Grover, now that we had angered them.

_Should I use it?_

I didn't expect an answer, so when a voice replied, I was definitely startled. Inferno almost slipped from my hands as I deflected another blow aimed at my neck.

_No, child. This is not the moment. But this is definitely the moment where you must act._

_What should I do?_ I frantically thought, hoping that I wasn't hallucinating_._

_The flames are powerful. Things can be fireproof, but if the fire burns strong enough, it will burn through everything._

I nodded, and concentrated on the Cyclopes around me, and felt a sharp tug in my stomach, as the temperature suddenly increased by several degrees. The clouds parted and the sun blazed with all its glory on top of us, and putting all my anger into one attack, I let it all out. _This is it then, Lord Surya._

I screamed, as the fire seemed to hungrily sap my energy, as a wave of swirling flames rolled off from my body and spread through the field, knocking the wide-eyed Cyclopes off their feet. Surprisingly, the woods around us didn't catch fire, and Percy protected himself by pulling up a bubble shield of water around him. The power was immense, I hadn't felt anything like this before, as my eyes tinged with red, and I slumped over. The three Cyclopes that had surrounded me had turned to dust, while the four around Percy lay several yards away, blown away by the sheer force of the flames hitting them, and were now slowly sitting up and wondering what the Hades just happened.

Grover appeared from the woods along with the three demigods, looking at me with some amount of fear in his eyes. I realized that he dated a tree nymph, and fires can be dangerous to trees, so I don't think I would be getting invited to his marriage anytime soon. Oops.

"That was…impressive Kalki. For the first time in my life, I have seen a demigod kill Cyclopes with fire." Percy said, trying to flash his trademark lopsided grin, but it came out more like a grimace.

"But you both cannot fight these monsters now. I can sense that your powers are drained. " Grover stated, as he then pulled Percy closer and whispered, loud enough that I could hear it, but not the demigods who stood farther away, "And next time, a little warning before losing it, okay? The pain that I felt over the psychic link was a fraction of what you feel, but it was the worst feeling I have ever had."

Percy didn't react as he just lifted Riptide in a ready motion, as the Cyclopes began to get up.

"No! You can't fight! We need to get out of here right now!" Grover pleaded.

"I won't let these monsters escape. I will kill them slowly, I will make them feel the pain that they planned to inflict on the people I used to love, I—" Percy seethed and began saying, but Grover cut in, "You shall do no such thing. Aphosius, Kalki, you both are Guardians, and it's your duty to save the demigods, not risk their lives just to settle a score with some petty monsters." He advised, as I noted mentally how quickly he shifted to our alias names when the demigods came within earshot.

Percy seemed like he wanted to protest, but then he nodded with a sense of resignation, as he whipped out his super phone. "I suppose you are right." He admitted, just as the leader of the Cyclopes stood up and bellowed, "Guardians! I shall destroy you!"

"Let's go!" I mentally asked my phone to teleport us, while holding the hands of Grover and the girl, not paying attention to the roaring monsters behind us, while Percy did the same with his phone, holding the hands of the two guys.

With a flash, we were at a distance of 400 meters from the camp borders.

"That was awesome dude. You both are really cool!" One of the guys stated, looking up to Percy and me in awe. At the moment, I certainly didn't feel "cool". My wall of flames attack had left me feeling nauseous and feverish, and I knew that I needed to have some ambrosia soon, or I would pass out of exhaustion.

I checked my phone and noted their names: The two dudes were Blake Hollinsworth, a son of Hermes, and Lance Washington, a son of Hephaestus. Blake was a blond, with tanned skin and brown eyes, built like an Olympian marathon runner, and had the mischievous elfish looks for which the Hermes cabin was famous for, while Lance had curly black hair, with brown skin and brown eyes, and a bit more muscular than Blake, although not as muscular as most of the other Hephaestus campers I had known, with the only notable exception being Leo. The girl was a daughter of Demeter, whose name was Rebecca Cornswood, and she was slightly pale skinned, with reddish brown waist length hair and greenish grey eyes.

Percy thanked them, as the two guys seemed to gush over us for quite some time, while the girl simply smiled.

"Grover, take them to camp from here, we will be watching, but do not expect us to be around. Report our encounter with the Royal Guards, but I believe our energy signatures might have already notified them of the battle."

"Aren't you coming along?" The girl finally asked softly, looking at us expectantly.

"We are not technically allowed to do so, Rebecca. Our job is to make sure you all reach camp safely, but nothing beyond that." I stated, as the girl seemed a bit startled as I knew her name without her telling me, but she didn't raise any questions about it.

"If we do enter, we would be questioned and taken into custody anyway." Percy gave a humorless laugh and added. The demigods seemed shocked by this information and wanted to ask more questions, but we ushered them towards the camp borders, and Grover pulled them along. Peleus snorted with joy when he saw us, and Percy requested Grover to make sure that Peleus was given a cheeseburger, a snack that the dragon was not allowed to have, but he loved to have it. Only Percy used to slip in some for the dragon, and it was evident that the dragon missed those little treats, as he snorted flames from his nose on their mention.

I realized with a start that we had come close to the camp. Too close.

"Grover! Are those demigods with you? And who are those cloaked dudes?" Jason came into view, wearing his ceremonial toga for his role as the Pontifex, with his glasses set on his nose, holding a bunch of scrolls in his hands.

"Shit." Percy concluded, as we teleported away, leaving the son of Jupiter dumbfounded near the borders of the place we once called home.

~~~~~~~~Mount Olympus~~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

The Throne Room had a tense atmosphere settling on it heavily, as a heated argument could be heard from the center of the room.

"I need my proof! He tried to sabotage the belongings of various campers, and then even tried to attack my son with a move that could have been fatal! To top it all, he chose to defend that freak son of _that Fire God_, whose very existence was a threat to the stability of Olympus!" Zeus screeched, as the man who sat on a black throne made up of shadows at the center of the room grimaced. He hated his little brother's temper tantrums. He also hated being made to sit right in the middle; all the thrones surrounding him made him feel like a small kid getting cornered and scolded. He was none other than Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. He would have retorted sharply, but Lady Hestia in her 20-year-old form approached him, and placed her palms on his shoulders, calming her brother down with her gentle touch.

"I have already told you brother, his and Arjun's souls are in the Fields of Asphodel, where all the souls seem the same! There is no way we can distinguish them. They might very well have already made their way to the long queues for Rebirth!" He reasoned. He couldn't let his paranoid brother know the truth; Zeus was still under the influence of Eris, and his lack of belief in Perseus made it worse. Hades needed to talk to Perseus and Arjun soon though. The matter was getting out of hand, and they needed to stay hidden. And if what news he heard would be true, they would be needed again. Thankfully, he could contact them soon, as being the god of the Underworld, made it easy for him to gain _his_ trust.

Zeus seemed to calm down a little, and then commented, "The denial that your own son, and my daughter Thalia live in, makes me anxious. If by any chance Arjun, the son of _that Fire God _were alive, it wouldn't bode well for Olympus. And judging by the actions of Perseus, last when we saw him, he might very well aid him in bringing about the downfall of Olympus, and establish the supremacy of _that _Pantheon to which the father of Arjun Armstrong belongs. He—"

"My son would do no such thing!" declared a god who had stayed in the shadows until now. He brandished his weapon of power, a 15-foot tall trident that was surrounded by a deep sea green aura. The god was Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, and Earthquakes. Power rolled off from his body just like his two brothers, but he had certainly seen better days. His eyes seemed hollow, and his beard, haggard. He seemed to have aged by twenty years, and his face no longer seemed to bear any traces of smiling ever in his long immortal life.

"Didn't you hear the news that Chiron brought that day? Hecate announced that all those sabotaging acts were just tricks of the mist! Someone wanted my son gone, and they were successful! I wish my son could still be alive, but if he is truly dead, you have committed the gravest sins of all, brother!" Poseidon boiled with rage, as the seas along the East coast saw a sudden increase in the size of waves.

"You have killed an innocent, and not just any innocent, but the Hero of Olympus. And if my son sided with the son of Agni, then I am sure he had good reasons to do so! My mind urges me to think otherwise, I admit, but my faith on my son tells me that Arjun wouldn't have done anything that could harm us!"

It was an amusing fact that Poseidon had no qualms taking the name of the Hindu god of fire, Lord Agni, while Zeus treated it like vermin. Especially so, because their very elements were polar opposites of each other.

"Your son—" A huge rumble echoed through the throne room, as the Big Three gave startled glances towards each other. Several other rumbles followed, but as soon as they had began, they ended.

"Was it anyone amongst us?" Zeus questioned slowly.

"Most obviously not, brother. We are all here." Hades retorted.

"Then that's a problem." Poseidon stated.

A brilliant flash illuminated the room, as Apollo suddenly appeared amongst the squabbling brothers, with a pale look on his face.

"Father-" he panted, his eyes widening in fear, "At Central Park-lot of destruction-" he took in a deep breath and continued, " A battle seems to have occurred at Central Park. The ground seems to have been turned inside out, with huge rocks blasting out of the surface. And everything up to a certain radius is charred, and I could still sense some powerful monsters. I was going to check, but then I felt a _presence_ that made me decide to approach you, father."

"A presence? We need to check this out! Brothers, to arms!" Zeus declared, and with a bolt of lightning, disappeared from the throne room.

"Drama queen." Snickered Hades, as the shadows wrapped around him and he disappeared too.

"Emo kid." Smirked Poseidon, a slight grin coming over his face after several days, as with a quick nod to Apollo, he flashed away to Central Park too, with Apollo in tow.

~~~~Central Park~~~~

"Gods! You cannot kill us! Our patron here will protect us, we are the Royal Guards!" the leader of the remaining four Cyclopes declared, as they were enveloped in tendrils of darkness. But his voice had a tinge of fear. Why hadn't Lady Nyx taken them away already? Why did she wait for the gods to arrive?

"Who are you the Royal Guards of, anyway? And whom were you battling here?" asked Zeus carefully, his master bolt bristling with energy in hand.

"We are the—" The tendrils wrapped of darkness wrapped around the Cyclopes, and for a moment, the monsters grinned with satisfaction, as they felt that their patron was finally going to rescue them. Their grins suddenly turned to looks of surprise and horror, as the tendrils started constricting around their body, and slowly suffocating them. With a last sickening twist, the tendrils squeezed the life out of the four Cyclopes, turning them to dust.

"They failed their mission, and are no more of my use." A voice rang across the field, startling the already surprised Olympians, who could make no sense of what they had just witnessed.

The tendrils swirled around and soon disappeared into the shadows, leaving the gods alone in the field.

"Well that was…interesting." Apollo stated shakily. The power that he had felt in the voice had _scared_ him. He felt like a paralyzed mortal, stuck under the brutal stare of Tartarus himself.

"We need to return to the throne room. This is a serious matter that needs the attention of all the Olympians. I will call a meeting." Zeus announced as he flashed away, followed by Poseidon and Apollo. Hades gazed at the spot where the tendrils had first shown up, and muttered, "So you are already making your move, aren't you?" and then the shadows engulfed him, and he arrived at the throne room at the next moment.

As the four gods arrived, they noticed that all the other Olympians were already there, with worry evident on their faces, while Hermes paced around the center of the throne room, fidgeting with his caduceus phone, and glancing around anxiously. Demeter and Hera were discussing something in hushed voices, while Athena seemed to be trying to go through the information in fifty different scrolls at once. Aphrodite was fidgeting around, glancing at everyone nervously, and not even fixing her makeup, which surely meant something was up. Artemis was twirling an arrow on her fingers, with a deep scowl on her face, while Ares was polishing the blade of his sword, his hands almost fumbling in nervousness. Hephaestus seemed to be engrossed in something that he was constructing out of some wires and metal tubes, while Dionysus was staring sharply at Hermes, urging him to speak, which was much unlike his usual behavior.

"Father, I have bad news." Hermes began, as Apollo replied, "LOL dude. Same." But his eyes didn't reflect the mirth they normally had.

With a slight frown, the god of Messengers continued, "The Lord of the Wild, that is, Grover Underwood felt the presence of some demigods, who had surprisingly not assigned a satyr to be sent for rescue yet." He glared at Dionysus for a moment, and continued again, "He was near the Central Park, talking to some dryads when he sensed them. There were three demigods, a son of mine, another of Hephaestus, and a daughter of Demeter." The mentioned god and goddess looked up with newfound interest.

"He felt powerful presences, and noticed a few Cyclopes tracking them, and decided to intervene, bending the Mist to make it seem as if he was a part of the study tour form their school to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but would have been almost overwhelmed had it not been for the Guardians, who arrived just on time." As the Big Three took their seats, all the Olympians continued to listen to the story in utter rapture, as Hermes again began, " The fight soon dragged into the Central Park, and out of the twelve Cyclopes, the Guardians managed to kill eight of them, and then teleported Grover and the demigods to camp. There they met with Jason Grace, but before he could ask anything, the Guardians teleported away."

"They got away?" Zeus thundered, remembering his decision to take the Guardians into custody.

"That's still not the main issue," Hermes countered in an irritated manner. The Guardians had saved several of his children, and he respected them for their noble cause.

"The main issue is the group of Cyclopes." He stated, as Poseidon suddenly added, "They called themselves the Royal Guards…"

"Yes, they _were_ the Royal Guards… of Moros the god of Doom, and they were blessed by Lady Nyx herself." Hermes informed the council with a mournful expression.

Zeus who just a moment ago had been thundering like the overdramatic god of the Skies he was, was now reduced to a trembling mess in a matter of seconds, his knuckles turning white as his grip on the master bolt tightened. These were the only two beings that he absolutely had no hope in defeating. If there were any immortals that truly scared him, they were Moros and Nyx.

"They failed in their mission of capturing the Guardians, by using the demigod children as a distraction, but that is not the point. The point here is, Olympians, brace yourselves. Nyx is rising, and we are soon going to face the worst challenge of our lives." Hermes collapsed on his throne after completing the report, weighed down by the information he had just delivered.

Needless to say, chaos ensued.

~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~~

ANNABETH'S P.O.V. (This was so long overdue!)

Chiron had called for a meeting, immediately after Hermes had been briefed about what Grover had seen. Grover is one lucky satyr, if you could call the happenings in his life, "lucky". This afternoon, he had to complete one last meeting with the dryads of Central Park and then return to stay in camp for a while, but what did he return with? Three demigods, accompanied by the Guardians (who left before we could question them), and the news that Nyx was rising.

Everyone was shouting and arguing across the Ping-Pong table, as cabin counselors and other noteworthy campers crowded the room. The ruckus started getting out of hand, but Chiron didn't seem to want to stop them. He was sitting in his wheelchair, gazing down at something that he held in his hand. I knew what it was, a picture of Percy and me, back from when we were twelve.

"Silence!" Alex ordered, as he slammed his fist onto the table. He had been hated by Thalia and Nico always, and I admit, I thought that his role in Percy's…_disappearance, _did raise questions, but he was the one that young campers looked up to as the leader of the camp. Yes, he had pride issues, if anybody challenged his worthiness of bearing the Blessing of Olympus, he would try his best to prove them that he is the only one deserving to have it, but as much as I now hate to admit, he was a good leader too. Since Percy …_disappeared_, the camp was in need of a teacher for combat. Clarisse was good, but only with the spear, and besides, she used to lose her cool quite easily. Alex filled in that spot quite comfortably though, and in the last year spent in rebuilding the camp after the war with the Giants, he had played a great role in rallying the campers together. Percy led by doing things he could do best himself, and allow others to do what they did best, while Alex urged everyone to excel in all fields. Both methods produced results, but Alex was a more clear-cut leader. When he was levelheaded, he showed that just like Zeus, he was a leader too. But I hated him. For the way he behaved when anything related to Percy came up. Percy was the only demigod who could challenge his claim of being the strongest demigod alive; even with the Blessing of Olympus and the armor made up of Eternal Silver that Alex had to his advantage. But after all that happened, the nightmares (or visions, as demigods rarely have dreams which don't mean anything), the incidents, the _actions that I had to take_, and what everybody else did…

I shook my head, trying to forget about all that and concentrate on what was the current matter of concern. Percy's death was still shrouded in mystery, and if he was alive…

"Annabeth! Pay attention!" Malcolm, who sat by my side as my self appointed assistant whispered to me. I nodded briefly and then listened to what Grover had to say. Alex had managed to make everyone quiet, and now Grover was giving a full account of what had happened earlier today. The conch bell sounded outside, signaling the time for dinner, but our meeting continued. Soon enough, a couple of the satyrs brought us some food. I noticed Gloria accompanying them, bringing me a glass of blue coke, Percy's favorite drink. She sat down beside me, and I said nothing. If she wanted to be here, then it's alright. I didn't mind, as long as she didn't cause any trouble. Given the things that she had been doing for me, she was more of like a babysitter to me than my younger sibling, and I was thankful for her presence. Apart form her, the only other campers who were there, but weren't one of us veterans were the three kids that Grover had rescued today.

"So like I already mentioned, I was there near Central Park, holding a meeting with the dryads from around New York regarding the wildlife conservation movement that we were thinking of making popular among the people of the city, when one of them informed me that he had smelled a couple of half bloods close by. I checked on my list of satyrs, and noticed that no one had been assigned to any half bloods in Manhattan, and decided to investigate the matter. Long story short, I found them, in a group of students that had come on a study tour to the Metropolitan Museum of Art…" He gave a short nod of understanding towards Chiron, who sighed and nodded back towards him, urging him to continue.

"I manipulated the Mist to look like one of their classmates, but I informed the kids that they were in danger. Their two teachers accompanying them were Cyclopes, and something about them seemed a little odd to me, and I later found out what it was."

At this, Blake snickered and added, "Told you, Lance. Mr. Knight was a monster. He proved it today." He chuckled nervously, as he was still a bit shaken about what happened earlier, but realized that his friend hadn't joined in. Looking up, he saw Clarisse glaring daggers at him, which made him shut up pretty quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if the daughter of Ares would give Blake the same treatment that she had given _Percy_ on his first day…

"So as I was saying, I joined them and planned to slip away with these guys in tow, and bring them here. But the Cyclopes cornered us, and would have probably killed us, hadn't it been for the arrival of the Guardians." His expression softened a bit when he mentioned the Guardians. His eyes seemed to be gazing far away, and his shoulders slumped subtly. It was barely noticeable, but I realised that whatever interactions Grover had with the Guardians had affected him deeply. He was perhaps the only one of us who had talked to them properly. The demigods they had rescued had talked to them too, but they claimed that they didn't really know anything except their names.

"They wouldn't have killed us." Rebecca, the daughter of Demeter who was one of the three demigods that Grover was talking about, interrupted with a soft, yet firm voice. She seemed like a very shy girl, so her speaking up in the middle was definitely worth taking of note.

"And why do you think so?" Jason rested his elbows on the table and moved forward with interest, his time as a Praetor had taught him to take everyone's opinions while making a decision.

Rebecca paused for a moment, and looked down a bit, but then continued, "They…those monsters talked about using us as a way to draw out the Guardians. They wanted to take them with them to their Mistress, Lady Nyx, and wanted them to give up on us." I noted that she had already accepted the existence of gods, Titans and Primordials, from the way she referred to Nyx.

Grover nodded. "I didn't hear the entire conversation, because the Guardians tried to keep us away from the fight, but I definitely heard their leader taunting one of the Guardians about his worthless attempts at helping the demigods and offering him to come along with them to Nyx. His taunts were based on the recent events that occurred, if you know what I mean." Grover said the last part darkly, and I knew he was talking about Percy.

"That means," Alex frowned and stated, "The Guardians are still neutral, or maybe a bit inclined towards us. But we need to be careful. If Nyx wants them on their side, she might make an offer that would buy them off, and we would have to fight them too."

"They wouldn't do anything like that, bro! They saved our lives, they almost died trying to save us!" Lance interjected and stood up, but Blake pulled him back down to his seat immediately.

"He's right," Grover jumped in, before Alex could open his mouth, "But after listening to all that the Cyclopes had to say, the things you guys did to one of the most amazing heroes in Greek history, I wouldn't blame them if they decided to not help us either."

"Now don't make this a Percy thing again, Grover." Alex groaned, as I noticed Nico restraining Thalia from brandishing her spear out.

"Yes, first we need to figure out this matter about Nyx, and then later look into the matters regarding Percy." I admitted. I hated saying it, but right now, if Nyx was rising, we needed to make sure that we survive this, if we have any hope of providing Percy a home again when he returned…and he had to return. Him dying was something that I did not want to accept, even if almost a year had passed since his death…

"ANNA HOW DARE YOU SAY PERCY ISN'T IMPORTA—" Thalia roared in fury as Nico, and one of the huntresses named Atlanta pulled her back down to her seat.

"Cuz, relax. We will find Percy. But first let us figure out what Nyx is up to. Given our experience with Primordials, Percy might be waltzing around her secret hideout, annoying the living Tartarus out of her!" Nico reasoned and Thalia gave a fearful look, as she probably imagined what Nyx might to do to Percy, if she ever caught him, and sat down promptly.

"Anyway, so there were these couple of Cyclopes, who tried to talk to the Guardians. Is that it?" Travis questioned Grover, trying to change the topic.

"There were 12 Cyclopes actually. The two teachers, and four disguised as guards at the museum first attacked us to draw out the Guardians. When they arrived and managed to kill off 3 of them, six more appeared, with full battle armor, and weapons that would make even Ares jealous." Grover said, as Clarisse raised an eyebrow, and nodded, as if already trying to imagine how the weapons might be like.

" And they were not just any random Cyclopes, they were the Royal Guards blessed by Nyx, and assigned with the protection of Moros himself. The myths don't talk about them that much, because whoever had encountered them until now, had never lived to tell the tale. But still, the two Guardians were able to kill off eight of the twelve member team, we escaped before the remaining four could attack us."

I was closely observing Chiron as Grover said all this, and his expressions betrayed his silence. Whoever were the Royal Guards, their arrival was bad news.

"What about the other four? Are they still at large? The Guardians should have finished their job in killing them, actually. Fleeing was a foolish move, if the monsters are still alive." Alex pointed out. The seriousness of the matter had affected him too, and even though I didn't like him, I appreciated the fact that he was worried that the monsters could cause trouble.

"The Gods arrived at the scene due to the energy signatures of the Guardians that had become visible during their battle with the Royal Guards. According to them, Nyx killed the remaining four, probably because they failed their mission in bringing the Guardians to her, and for revealing the fact that she was indeed rising." Chiron stated, much to our relief. Even if Nyx was the main problem, we really did not want a bunch of bloodthirsty Cyclopes running across New York City. But her killing off her own followers was pretty much a perfect way of warning us what she could do to us, her enemies. Considering what Percy…and I had done to her back in Tartarus, we both were probably at the top of her "To kill slowly" list.

Everyone was silent for a while, taking in whatever information we had found out today. Then Leo stood up and asked, " Alright guys, so all we know right now is that Nyx is rising. Probably not happy that her little sis Gaea was tucked back in bed by Beauty Queen here." He gestured to Piper, who immediately slapped his hand that was pointing at her. "But other than that, we don't know shit. Right?"

We all nodded. As much as I would like to know more, that was all we knew now.

"But what about these Guardians? I mean, who the heck are they? Till now, whatever I have experienced in Greek mythology tells me that there's probably no nice Greek dude out there, let alone there being a pair of them. Why are they helping us rescue demigods? How did they manage to fight with the Royal Guards, if these monsters were supposed to be so powerful?" Leo fired off, and would have continued, had it not been for Calypso pulling him back down. "One at a time, Valdez! You're gonna spontaneously combust again if you get too excited. And just to remind you, you aren't wearing those fireproof clothes that I made you!" Calypso scolded the scrawny son of Hephaestus, who blushed a deep shade of red and nodded.

"Oops, can't burn off these clothes then. That sight which would be visible after that is only for the view of my Sunshine here." He winked and said, as we all smiled a bit, while Jason and the Stolls made gagging noises. Alex frowned, but then smiled, as I realised that Leo had done all this to reduce the tension that everyone was in. The son of Hephaestus not only fixed machines, but also the mood of all his friends. He was much more important than any one of us ever realized.

"That," said Butch, with a smirk, " Was probably something that I never wish happens. I would be washing my eyes with disinfectant the rest of my life!"

"Alright children, I think it would be best if we end the meeting now, after a few last words regarding the Guardians. Grover, do you have any other information to share about them?"

I narrowed my eyes as I saw Grover hesitate, as if choosing what to reveal and what to keep to himself. I knew he probably would have a good reason behind it, but it still confused me why he would be so secretive. "Well, apart from their names, I know that they are amazingly good fighters with the sword, and truly seem concerned about our safety. Apart from that, I don't really know much, as they made us hide when they were fighting the Royal Guards, and I couldn't observe anything." Chiron nodded and then dismissed the meeting, as it was almost time for curfew.

But something gnawed the back of my head. How did these Guardians defeat the Royal Guards of Moros? According to the myths, even Zeus was scared of Moros, whose very existence now threatens the existence of civilization, and I didn't expect his guards to be easy to defeat by normal demigods at least. Also, what Leo said was true. Why were they helping us? They definitely wanted something in return, and the fact that Nyx had actually offered them to join her meant that perhaps for the right offer, their loyalties might shift too, which is quite common in the Greek world. And their descriptions given by the campers weren't exactly helping either. Two individuals, dressed in black with thin colored lines running by the side, with several weapons over their body and hoods over their faces; in short, it was probably not the most trustworthy outfit out there.

We couldn't fully trust them, till we knew who they truly were. And I guess Zeus was probably correct in attempting to take them into custody and ask questions first, before fully accepting their role in helping in the rescue of demigods recently.

~~~~~~ATHENA CABIN~~~~~

GLORIA'S P.O.V.

I was afraid to go to sleep. The dream, the voice, they came every night, growing stronger with each passing day. It asked me to do a simple thing; nobody would need to know, as even I knew that if I actually tried, I could do the task easily. And most importantly, I could do it without anyone suspecting. I had Annabeth's trust, and even if opinion about her were divided in camp, after the incident with Arjun and Percy, most of the people would be willing to take her word if she said that I was innocent.

What did I have to do? Simple. Inform the voice about the weaknesses of the campers, and how to counteract any defensive measures taken by them to defend Camp Half-Blood. If possible, I was also asked to cause mistrust to spread, and sabotage equipment, in order to make sure that the armies of the voice won. And after today's incident, I was pretty sure who the voice was: _Nyx_.

Everyone would think, why would I accept such an offer, Camp Half-Blood had offered me a home that every demigod can call as a safe haven! But Nyx was a smart bargainer. Ever since I saw the bloodied clothes of my one time _friend_, if I had the right to call him that, Arjun Armstrong, and the hero of Olympus, Percy Jackson, I was shaken, very badly so. I knew demigods died every now and then, but to witness first hand the death of a person, whom I used to know… I had realized that even after being in the same school as him since middle school, I didn't really _know_, Arjun. He was different, and perhaps lost in his own world, and I never cared to know about him, and now, he was dead. Here's where Nyx came in. She promised me that if he was still alive, as Thalia insisted that Percy might be alive (I hated the fact that everyone was so concerned about Percy, but no one cared about Arjun, but I hoped that he was alive too), she will find him for me, and even if he died, she would bring him back to life with the help of Tartarus. Of course I refused initially…but I felt responsible for his death, I was a living reminder that some demigods were killed in cold blooded murder, just because of their parentage, while the so called "normal" demigods like me were accepted without any qualms. I didn't want to give in, but my confidence was running low. These people, yes, they were cool, but they killed a guy whom I knew for so many years. But, at the same time, I couldn't understand why I was so concerned about him. Why did I want him to be alive so desperately, when Zeus and the rest of the demigods had accepted the fact that his existence was a threat to the mythological world? Why did I want get to know Arjun Armstrong?

Why? _WHY?_

I soon drifted off to sleep, still pondering about it, as the voice yet again whispered into my mind, and I could feel myself slowly succumbing to the power of the Night.

~~~~~Unknown location~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

_"The Royal Guards have failed us, and the campers know about you rising, Lady Nyx." The informant bowed down and said._

_"I know that." A voice from the darkness replied irritatedly. "What do the campers think about the Guardians?" Nyx questioned after a moment of silence._

_"There is still distrust among them regarding the Guardians, milady. But there's another matter of concern." The informant slowly breached the topic, waiting for Nyx to question him about it._

_"Perseus and Arjun?" _

_The informant gritted his teeth and nodded. "Perseus and Arjun."_

_"If Hades isn't able to present their souls in front of Zeus within a week as a proof of their death to quell the rumors, the demigods would be set to finding him, and Hades would be punished for treason. This is all well and good, as we can use this distraction, but if our suspicions are correct and they are somewhere out there, then we need to be careful. They can be worse threats than these petty Guardians, and you must eliminate them, as they would never join us."_

_"Who are you to command me boy? I will look into the matter. I will ask Eris to fix the waning magic of hers to bring the darkest thoughts of all the demigods back to the surface. I will break that pretty little blonde's mind, and Percy would be forced to join us. Arjun would also have to comply, as I have…plans for him too. So do not order me around, boy, I know what I am doing." Nyx responded with a certain degree of anger._

_"I deeply apologize, milady. I just do not want them to cause any problems to you or hurt your plans." The informant replied softly, obviously taken aback by the scathing reply by Nyx._

_Nyx seemed to consider his words for a moment, and then replied, "Very well then. You may go now. Take rest. I shall continue trying to awaken the other Primordials and other beings, and ask them to join our cause." Nyx said slowly, letting her cold demeanor be shed for a moment._

~~~~~~~Dallas~~~~~~~

PERCY'S P.O.V.

I did not want to sleep. My mind was a raging mess. Adrenaline still pumped in my veins, as the voice of the Cyclops rang in my ears, taunting me relentlessly. I cursed myself for not killing him then and there. I was in a state of murderous and primal rage, but due to Grover and Arjun's requests, I had to let them go. I did not know if I had the strength to fight anymore at that time or not, but I would have preferred dying over _this_. Living with a constant reminder that maybe his words were true. Maybe I was trying to protect people who just wanted me dead now. They had used me as long as I seemed like an interesting toy, and had thrown me away when a better one came around in the form of Alex. But…in the end, they were the people I cared about. They were my family, and try as I might, I cannot give up on family, I had promised that to Hermes so many years ago.

Looking away from the campfire pit, I again wondered about Arjun. He risked his life, fought and used his powers to the best possible way, just to be able to save and protect demigods, even if he had been treated like trash by almost every Greek god or demigod that he had met. They thought that him being a son of the Hindu deva Agni would cause a problem with the stability of Olympus, which was absurd, as he had been doing so much as Kalki, to aid the Greek world in its constant battle with monsters. But why? Why do all this for the people who hated him? I had asked him the question multiple times now, and I never received a proper answer.

_Maybe there isn't one._ A voice suddenly whispered in my ear. I jumped up, and quickly looked around our campsite. Arjun was fast asleep in the tent, and I was keeping watch by sitting on a log propped up beside the dying embers of our campfire. No one seemed to be around, but I began to draw out Riptide. Invisible voices were never up to any good.

_And you think you can hurt an invisible voice with a sword, Perseus?_ The voice laughed heartily, in a deep voice, which somehow made me feel a bit relaxed.

"Who are you?" I questioned a bit warily, looking around, trying to locate the speaker.

Ignoring my question, the voice continued, _Arjun is an interesting kid, Perseus. I have known him since a long time. Do you wish to know why he is the way he is? Do you wish to know what makes him tick? Then today is your lucky day! Every now and then, Arjun needs to vent out his thoughts and feelings, but he never really does so to any person in real life._

The voice stopped, and took a long, sad sigh and continued, _Rather, he dreams about a person being with him, and he shows them what he wishes to talk about. This helps him to feel like he's sharing his problems and feelings with people, without making them actually worried._

_A quite weird practice, but he manages to do it. I believe, I could help you be that person in his mind tonight, and he can talk to you about his life, without realizing that you're actually aware of it. I know this is rather a sneaky proposal, but as a friend, you should know what he's been through._

The voice really seemed saddened now, but I was curious about what he said.

"So you are planning to send me to his dream? Who are you anyway?" I asked.

_Tsk. Thought that you'll recognize me by now. But it's alright if you couldn't. I am Hypnos, the God of Sleep, and the father of the Oneiroi, the dream makers, like Morpheus, whom you may have encountered once upon a time. As for your first question, who said I was planning? You are already in his dream. _

"What?" I asked in surprise, as a voice at the back of my mind screamed that Hypnos couldn't be trusted, he was a son of Nyx.

_And Erebus too. My loyalties lie with my father, Perseus. Now, proceed into the dreamscape, please. _He stated, displeasure evident in his voice for being recognized as a son of Nyx.

I turned around, and was greeted to the craziest sight ever.

**A/N: I know I have taken a long time to upload this, but here it is! By far, the longest chapter in the story. The Guardians will be brought back into contact with the campers, but how long will it take for their identities to be revealed? Only time will tell.**

**I know that the story is going quite slow, but I would love it if my readers would hang on, and deal with my way of explaining the tiniest bits of the characters. xD I understand, that my characters are much more brooding, and thoughtful as compared to their canon versions, but I guess in this situation, that's how they may end up like. ****J**

**Coming up next, would be a chapter that reveals just exactly who Arjun Armstrong is, and his motivations to fight for the very people who wanted him dead. Be prepared for a hell of a ride, because these reasons would definitely blow your mind.**

**At the same time, Nyx is now revealed completely, and is surely going to pace up her attack, with no more time spent on staying hidden. Also, her constant influence on Gloria, who seems to be dead set on trying to find the story of Arjun, might lead to disastrous results.**

**So stay tuned for the next chapter, and reviews, comments, and suggestions are surely accepted! Take care and stay safe until next time!**

**P.S. I hope the battle scene was okay. I am not sure if I described it well enough or not. xD**


	13. Why the fire burns?

**A/N: First of all, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites, guys! It surely inspires me to continue with the story at the quickest pace possible, and make it as enjoyable to read as it is for me to write. **

**I would have included replies to reviews here, but given that I have already been so late to update the story, review replies shall be continued from the next chapter.**

**Anyway, now on to the unlucky chapter! (The 13****th**** chapter, you know?)**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, not Rick Riordan, so I own nothing except my amazing OCs. (At least I think they are amazing. Read further, and see what you think about Arjun after this chapter though. )**

PERCY'S P.O.V.

Right in front of me was a huge movie screen, and a recliner, with a cup of soup and some bread served on a table. The surroundings looked like a paradise for Hestia, with a warm fire burning at the hearth, and a cozy orange glow bathed the room. Towards the sides, I could see numerous doors, and several stairs leading up and down, winding up to what I realised was the interior of a castle.

Some of the doors had a shining outline, as if they hid the sunlit beach behind them, while there were other doors, which had dark shadows seeping through them, and I had an instinctual feeling not to open them, _ever_.

Right behind me, was a huge, circular metal door, which seemed to have been forcibly shut, with huge wooden planks barring it, and chains wrapped around its hinges. Again, I guess, whatever they hid was something I didn't want to let out.

"Hypnos! Where am I?" I questioned, looking around, trying to get a glimpse of the god of sleep.

_This is the mindscape of your friend, Arjun. Now, if I were you, I would take a seat at the recliner, the show's about to begin!_

Show? I wondered, but decided to take a seat anyway, albeit warily. I knew Hypnos said something about Arjun showing his true self in his dreams, but I wasn't sure what to expect.

Suddenly, with a whirring sound of a projector from probably the dinosaur era, the screen in front of me came to life, as I recognized what I was seeing: A high school hallway, crowded with teens bustling around, doing just about ever random thing possible. (Yes, there was a guy there who was dancing to a Taylor Swift song too. Don't ask me why. These aren't my memories.)

The back of someone's head came into view, as I realized he was lugging a guitar to the music room. School was almost over by the looks of it, but I guess the figure in front of me was going for some practice.

He soon arrived, and there came a few more kids in view. A lanky teen on the drums, a bass guitarist, a rhythm guitarist, and a dude on the keyboard. Another guy seemed to be fidgeting around, with no particular purpose.

"Hey bro, meet my cousin. He was interested in performing with us a bit, he sings well too. So would you mind if he sang a couple of songs?" The drummer questioned the figure in front of me, whose mop of black hair gave me a good idea about who it could be, while gesturing at the only guy without a musical instrument.

"Alright, I will be on lead guitar then for a couple of songs, he can take over the singing for those." The figure responded, plugging in his guitar. Then, the scene fast-forwarded, as I saw the band performing in front of small crowds, and even at clubs. I suddenly realized that the new singer was singing more and more of the songs, pushing the original guy to only the lead guitar. Judging by his singing skills, he was terrible, but somehow, the band preferred him to their original singer. Needless to say, their fan following started dwindling, and I saw scenes where the drummer would yell at everyone, especially the lead guitarist, but never at his cousin.

Bias, I smirked. I had seen Zeus do it several times, so this was nothing new.

Suddenly though, the scene halted, coming back to original speeds, as I saw the new singer bringing in a guitar of his own, as the rest of the band members stood waiting.

"Hey guys, sorry for being late, had some homework to submit to—" the figure with his black hair flying entered and began saying, only to be interrupted by the drummer, "I am sorry too bro, but you can go home today. We have decided to make my cousin a permanent member, and as he has been working on his guitar skills, he will be replacing you, permanently. I am really sorry, but this is for the best. The band comes first, you know? We need to cut down on members, and focus on the core, to bring back our fans." He continued, as I looked at him with surprise.

The only reason I would ever attend a show by them was the kid whom they were throwing out of their band, which to me was plain ridiculous.

"Are you crazy?" I whispered at the screen, which suddenly seemed to darken, and I heard a voice, which I easily recognized, it was the guy with the black hair, who was thinking to himself.

_Oh really? So your talentless brother is better than me? I could easily challenge you right now, and given how spineless your friends are, this band would break and burn, right in front of your eyes!_

The fire in the fireplace grew hotter, and the room's temperature went up by several degrees, and some of the doors started rattling, emitting ghastly auras.

This is it, I thought. As the boy had his head bowed down in deep thought. I was sure, he was going to punch the drummer in the face, but suddenly, he looked up, and smiled.

"It's all good. I would have actually suggested that too, as the pressure of studies is too much to handle along with our band practice. Besides, he is an amazing artist!" said the boy, while his thoughts screamed the exact opposite. The room around me calmed down, and I saw his eyes, unreadable, and hiding his true emotions. This boy was none other than Arjun Armstrong.

The scene fast-forwarded again, until he reached home and was talking to his mom. I recognized the lady easily; she had helped us when we were most in need of support.

"You're home early? I thought you had practice."

"I decided to quit the band for now, mom. Need to concentrate on studies. I can play music in a group anytime in the future, but right now, the grades are important too, you know?" He stated, giving a white lie to his own mother, but I could see it in the kind lady's eyes that she had guessed the truth. She remained silent though, as he made his way to his room, keeping away his guitar and a notebook with a roughly stenciled writing stating that it was his "Songs Book".

I continued to look at the screen intently to see what would happen next, as I saw him relax and text someone. A few minutes later, he got a call, probably from whom he was texting, and his face brightened up a bit. With a shock, I realized that I hadn't seen that kind of a smile on his face since ages. Arjun was really good at faking smiles.

He seemed to talk for about 20 minutes on the phone, and from what I could hear, it was probably his best friend; some girl named Lynn. This fact again surprised me, as he had never mentioned anything about her to me, since the last one year that I had known him. Soon, the scenes began shifting, as I saw the girl in person. She had dusty blonde hair, amber colored eyes with black eyeliner, and usually wore just a simple t-shirt and skinny jeans, paired with black combat boots. They both used to hang out most of the time in school and after school, and she seemed to be the only person to whom Arjun would confide in. The flurry of scenes stopped again, as the two came into focus.

"I need to go for about a fortnight, Lynn. My grandmother's ill, and we have to take care of her. You too, take care, okay? I will message you whenever I can. Stay safe, and have fun though." Arjun said, as the girl smiled and nodded.

The scenes started going by quickly again, and my head almost swam by the multitude of images that passed through the screen. I wouldn't have minded to see each and every incident of his life, but I guess Arjun wanted to concentrate on only those that held a certain amount of significance to him.

The images came back to normal speed, again at the hallway, as I saw Arjun tensely looking around, and it was evident that he was really worried.

"Lynn!"

The girl, who seemed to have been pacing ahead deliberately, seemed to halt and falter for a second. Slowly, she turned, facing Arjun with what could best be called a look of uncertainty, which almost bordered on guilt. I was confused on seeing this, but remained silent.

Behind me, the huge circular door rumbled, and the planks hammered across it shook and threatened to fall out, but I decided to concentrate on the screen.

"I was texting you, but you stopped replying, and heck, before that too you rarely replied, I was so worried, I thought something happened to you, oh gods Lynn! I hope everything is okay, I—"

"Something did happen, Arjun." Lynn, stated, and something in her voice seemed to scare me. Whatever she had to say wasn't good, and I was afraid something happened that hurt her so much that she couldn't even talk to her best friend, Arjun.

"I…I am dating Jared, the guy who replaced you in the band…He didn't want me to talk to you."

To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. After seeing how close Arjun and her were, I secretly hoped that they both would get together. Heck, I remembered seeing a scene flying by, where Lynn promised to go with him to the annual dance as neither of them had any dates. They both had seemed to be perfect for each other.

"C-c-congratulations, I guess. But why not talk to me? And how could you just accept it?" Arjun asked; his head bowed down, his messy black hair hiding his eyes and the emotions hidden behind them. The giant door behind me was pounding, with the chains rattling in fury, and I realized that I had begun to sweat. The temperature change was much more evident this time, as steam rose from the soup, as it seemed to boil again.

"He…he doesn't like you, Arjun. So I had to stop. Don't get me wrong, I still do like you, but you're not that important. I love him though." She said, almost expecting him to yell at her, and for a moment, I expected…no, I wanted him to do the same. This was too much. I heard the words being repeated over and over again.

_I like you, but you're not that important._

_You're not important._

_You._

_Are._

_Not._

_Important._

Arjun looked up, but instead of anger, gave a brilliant smile, and said, "That's okay, I guess. But you should be going to your classes. It's getting late, and besides, I don't want to cause trouble in your relationship with him, just because of me. So get going!"

Lynn nodded, and turned away, but then stopped and looked back at him, and I felt a surge of hope going through Arjun (given the fact that I was in his mindscape, I could feel how he felt), as words began whispering in his mind: _Would she be different? Would she take back what she said? I trusted her so much, I am sure I couldn't be so wrong…_

"And about the annual dance…" Lynn began, as she fidgeted and played with the edge of her shirt, "I didn't have a date earlier, but now Jared is taking me there. So I guess you should find someone else…if you can?"

Arjun briefly nodded, his heart constricting, as he watched her walk away. He was smiling, but I knew what he was doing: locking away his sadness and acting happy. I felt guilty for the way the Greeks had treated him, much worse than I had already felt. It seemed like being pushed away was something that seemed to happen repeatedly in his life, and that was not okay.

The scenery soon shifted to the different classrooms, and I saw him helping a few of the teens milling around the rooms with their homework, even doing a few questions for a couple of them at the last minute. He was happy to help, giving no sign whatsoever of the inner turmoil that I was sure going on inside of him right now. Soon, the bell rang, and I saw him silently trudge to an empty seat. But just as he was about to keep his bag down, someone said, "The seat is taken!" It was a guy whom he had just been helping outside.

"Sorry bro, but my friend is coming from the washroom in a couple of minutes, he's going to sit here."

Arjun nodded, and headed off to another vacant seat, only to be met with a similar reply. After moving around for a while, he gave up and stood in the middle of the classroom, as the people for whom the seats had been reserved strolled in. I noticed there was one empty seat, but there were a couple of books kept on them. The teacher, who noticed Arjun's predicament, raised an eyebrow, but then nodded knowingly, as if it had happened earlier. He went and removed the books from the seat, which was right in front of him, and whispered to Arjun as he went to take the seat, "I was prepared this time, Mr. Armstrong. Don't worry; even if your…'friends' couldn't find a seat for you, I will reserve one for you. Just keep doing well in my class."

Arjun nodded, gratitude flashing across his face as he took out his books.

The classes continued, and I almost zoned out, as the scenes were fast-forwarded again. Finally, they came back to normal pace when it was around lunchtime. I had noticed a newspaper in one of the classes, and I realized that this memory was from about 3 months before he came to camp, relatively fresh in his mind then.

At lunch, the school cafeteria was jam packed, with everyone sitting with his or her friends. Arjun stood in the middle of the room, again alone, holding his plate for lunch, trying to find a place to sit. His ex-band mates were seated on one side, and even Lynn was there, but he knew he wouldn't be accepted there. The guys he helped in the morning saw him look their way, and pulled in a few other people to sit with them, making it clearly evident that they didn't want him around. I couldn't understand what was happening, but one thing was pretty evident, Arjun was quite lonely in this place. Nobody liked him, even if he tried his best to be likeable.

"I guess we'll just stand then." Arjun sighed and stood by a pillar, slowly nibbling on some salad. "No friends from the band, no friends in general, and…no Lynn."

His gaze continued to search through the crowd, maybe hoping to make eye contact with a friendly face. Sadly, there was none. After about ten minutes or so, I heard someone calling his name, and he turned in that direction, surprise written over his face.

"Yes?" He asked doubtfully, approaching the person who sat by a table, which had one seat vacant.

"You really shouldn't stand there and eat, what if you drop your plate by mistake? It would be a mess, and you would have to go hungry. Why are you standing anyway? No seats available?" the girl whose questions were on rapid fire, soon came to focus: A blonde, with grey-green eyes that seemed to be filled with intelligence and curiosity, and a tanned face, with a hint of a smile. Gloria. As Arjun nodded slowly, she gestured him to sit down with one hand. "Well, seems like you didn't check properly enough. Here's one vacant."

She had a book in the other hand and was busy reading, having already finished her lunch. Across her, sat a girl who was busy with her phone, and a guy whom I could immediately identify as the satyr assigned to her, who was giving wary glances at Arjun as he sat down beside Gloria.

"Umm…thanks, Gloria I—"

"Don't bother, just being polite, you know? Now if you'd allow me, I need to read this book. My dyslexia is manageable, but it still makes this a bit harder than it normally should be."

Arjun nodded again, and continued eating in silence.

The scenes again began to shift, pausing briefly at various moments, one where he told his mom that he didn't want to go to the dance and had found Lynn someone else to go with, as he felt awkward about it, another where he sat writing a song, while trying to figure out the best chord pattern for it, and yet another, where he just sat thinking.

Words whispered by, perhaps from memories that he didn't have the courage to show.

_You do not belong here, whatever you may try to do._

_You are not important._

_Go away, nerd. We don't need you around, you are gonna ace the test anyway._

_You are not important._

_Had nothing better to do, so decided to talk to you. Hopefully it won't be too boring._

_You are not important._

_No, just wanted your help. Thanks, but don't disturb me now, I will talk to you later if I need anything again._

"And of course I helped. Then they forgot me again, until they felt a requirement to talk to me, whenever they needed help again." He seemingly talked to himself, gazing at the moon that shone out of his bedroom window, under which he lay in the dream scene.

He sighed and seemed to look directly at me, and continued, "But we can't really stop helping, can we? After all, they are friends; they are people for whom we care about." Sitting up, he said resolutely, "From now on, whatever happens, I will always try my best to protect anyone and everyone I see as my friend…who knows, they might be dealing with worse stuff than this loneliness that provides me company every day." His eyes shone, out of determination, or tears, I couldn't say, but I was too shocked to say anything. Here was a kid who had faced being alone and pushed away all his life, and he chose to try his best to help people, the very people who hurt him again and again. I felt ashamed to have let the Cyclops' words affect me, and make me doubt my loyalty towards my friends…or ex-friends. True, they betrayed me. True, they treated me like a common criminal, but for me, they were still my friends, and it was my duty to protect them, no matter what.

"We will be their superhero…the one who appears at their time of need, and disappears when not needed anymore." Arjun said, as he slowly fell asleep in the screen, and I felt my consciousness slowly drift away from his mind.

_Quite a surprise box, isn't he?_ Hypnos chuckled mirthlessly and said, as I slowly felt myself waking up.

_It's good that you are waking up now; he almost realized that it was really you._ He added, as I opened my eyes groggily, waking up to find myself slumped over the log where I was sitting earlier. I was thankful that I didn't fall asleep with my face planted on the ground, but this position wasn't comfortable either. But I had one doubt.

"What was the big round door in his mindscape though? The one that was barred shut? It seemed like some monster was trying to barge through, given the amount of shaking and rumbling that it did." I questioned the invisible god.

_Make a guess, Perseus, you can certainly tell by now, after all that you saw._

I thought for a couple of moments, then looked at the direction of the voice, and whispered, "His emotions?"

_Yes, Perseus. I believe you understand now that you aren't the only one repressing your emotions. I believe this would help you understand the kid better. Now though, it's almost time for him to wake up for his shift of night guard duty, so you better straighten up!_

I gave the god a lopsided grin, as I felt his presence disappearing. "He's never going to wake up until I yell in his ears to do so."

~~~~~~~~Camp Half-Blood~~~~~~~~

GLORIA'S P.O.V.

"Where are the harpies when you need them?" I seethed as I wished for my own death.

No demigod in his (or _her_) right mind would be around right now, at 3 am in the morning, while the entire camp slept. But then again, demigods were rarely ever in their right minds. What was I doing here? Well, Nyx was driving me insane with the dreams she showed me. Dreams of death, destruction and total obliteration of everything and everyone I had ever known. And the person leading this was none other than Arjun Armstrong. Driven by a deep hatred towards us for what we had done, he had razed the camp, turning it into ashes. According to Nyx, if there was any chance that I could save him from going insane, I had to help her, and she would help me calm down Arjun, and maybe win him back to our side, Why did she want me to take him back was something I didn't know, but I was willing to do anything that could help me know who he was as a person, and in the process, stop him from hurting anyone here. I realized that maybe Nyx wasn't too sure about him herself, and was trying to use me to understand exactly where he stood, but nevertheless, things would go south for him if I didn't do this little amount of…treachery against my own friends. My task was simple, find the defense plan that the Athena, Ares and Nike cabin had drawn together earlier, and find the weak points of the camp, and report it to Nyx. I had been a part of the procedure, but Nyx wanted me to see again, as she didn't trust Annabeth enough to think that she would not make any changes to the plan without letting anyone except the cabin counselors know about it. I didn't want to do this, but Nyx had another card against me; she could unleash her grandson, Phobetor, on Annabeth and Arjun, destroying their minds completely with his nightmares. Annabeth still had nightmares of Tartarus, so her mind was already quite fragile, and one final push in the wrong direction might destroy her completely. And this time Percy wasn't there to save her. He was gone. But was he? All these threats made me sure of one thing: Arjun was alive, and maybe Percy too, but in what state, I didn't know. It made me scared that no gods could find them, and the fact that we had proof that they were dead…unless, somehow they escaped the clutches of Hades, which seemed impossible to me.

"Are you sure about this?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, brandishing my dagger and taking a defensive stance, as a guy, who seemed to be just a bit older than the oldest campers strolled into my field of vision, seemingly with ease as if there was nothing for him to worry about. He fiddled with a black bandanna that he wore over his head, the only sign that gave away the fact that he was tensed.

"Relax, girl. Chill, we're both on the same team here!" He said calmly and in an almost careless tone, which made me feel as if I couldn't harm him even if I tried…his presence, his aura, everything about him seemed a little bit off, and that scared me.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my hands shaking a bit, but I gave him a deluxe glare.

"Irrelevant." He stated, and then praised himself, "That was an awesome one worded reply, wasn't it?"

When I didn't say anything, he made a bit of a sad face and continued, "Don't listen to her, I can help you out…at least, in a way that won't involve betrayal."

"What do you mean?" Suddenly self-conscious, as this guy seemed to know about my dream and the offer made by Nyx.

"You go back like a good little girl and show her your earlier memories, and I will make sure that she thinks its what you saw now. Don't worry, I will alter the maps in your memory, so she'll not be getting any good info anyway." He smirked and concluded as I looked at him in disbelief. He had to be a powerful deity, as he talked about defying Nyx as if it was child's play.

"How'll you do that? If I know Nyx right, she already knows that we both are talking, and the game's already up."

"Oh no no no, my dear daughter of Athena! Do not jump to conclusions. I assure you, that Missy Night Bat is still blissfully unaware. Now just swear on the…what was that damned river's name? Styx, yeah, I remember. Swear on it that you wouldn't be talking about meeting me with anyone, as I am already breaking a lot of rules by being here, and it would get annoying if all you little Greek heroes come prancing around at me with your cute bronze weapons."

I was too confused to understand all that he said, but I took the oath, as my mind slowly registered the fact that he referred to us as Greeks as if…he himself wasn't.

"Okay then, girl. Off you go!" He snapped his fingers, and the very next moment, I found myself tucked in bed, in the Athena cabin, surrounded by my snoring siblings.

"What the—" I whispered, not wanting to awaken anyone, when I passed out, entering the land of dreams to meet Nyx.

~~~~~~20 minutes later~~~~~

~~~~~Dinner Pavilion, CHB~~~~~~

NARRATOR'S P.O.V.

"They tell you, that I am the god of water, but they never mention, that I was also the god of darkness. Funny people, when they've got two big baddies of darkness in Nyx and Erebus among the Greeks, how could they forget the single dude of darkness, who also managed to be the god of water from a sister religion?" Mused the person from earlier, having completed his promise to Gloria, and effectively fooling Nyx into believing the fake memories.

"On second thoughts, sorry Erebus, bro, but you get what I mean right? Anyway, Varuna reporting. Mission accomplished, let's move on to the next part. Your wifey is gonna get so beaten!"

And with a swirl of darkness and water vapor, the Deva, as he was indeed Varuna, disappeared from the camp.

~~~~~~~~A café at Vancouver~~~~~

"They're targeting demigods now! I would never imagine her to try to pull a Kronos trick on us!" ranted a tall, seemingly hunchbacked, waiter, who served coffee to a guy in a suit. Without any warning, the waiter's shirt was torn into shreds with a shriek of ripping cotton, and majestic wings attached to his back now ruffled themselves, in anticipation of some unknown threat, as he stood up straight, looking around in panic.

"Calm down, Zelus, there's no point in freaking out."

"Freaking out? It's Nyx we're talking about, for Zeus' sake! We—HOLY MOTHER OF ZEUS!" Zelus shot up into the air, as a portal of darkness opened right beside him, and a man in a black suit materialized and smiled apologetically. As for Zelus, he hit the ceiling and then crashed back to a coffee table, probably feeling utterly miserable because of his raw nerves.

"Erebus." Said the man who had remained seated till now, drinking the coffee served to him by Zelus.

"Lord Surya." The man in the black suit reciprocated the appreciative nod that he had received from the Hindu deva of the sun.

"Varuna managed to stop some random camper from being won over by…Nyx." Surya stated, knowing that Erebus was still not completely over his feelings for his ex-wife.

But rather than reacting to her name, Erebus replied, "Her name was Gloria, that camper. A friend of that amazing kid Arjun." He smiled knowingly, as if feeling really happy to know about the Hindu demigod.

"Umm…Yes, I guess she was. Varuna gave her name, but I guess it's irrelevant information. What's more important is that Nyx is playing on the aggressive now. If she wanted to know the camp's defenses, it only means that she's planning for an attack. The camp is weak, and the campers, incompetent, against a force like this."

Zelus, who had slowly and woozily got himself seated, with his wings occupying a few more chairs and tables on either side spoke up, "But don't they have some of the strongest demigods, like Jason and Annabeth and even that newbie son of the boss, Alexander? I heard Alex is pretty powerful, but the kid's got a big mouth, but hey demigods are always like that." He ended with a grin, only to look away with embarrassment when the other two divine beings responded with glares. "Gotta go, Zeus needs me!" and with that, he disappeared in a swirl of golden light.

"It's best that he's not around, he's too…" Erebus tried to think of any word that wouldn't be too insulting.

"Feisty? Hyperactive? Batshit crazy?" Suggested a new voice, which belonged to Varuna, who had just entered the café.

"I would settle with energetic, I guess." Erebus decided.

"Anyway, to the main issue, what are we going to do about it?" Surya folded his arms and kept them on the table, concentrating on the matter at hand.

"The campers need someone who can direct them, lead them into battle, and make sure they come out of it winning." Erebus stated, and then continued after a pause, "Only one person, cannot achieve this, but you two have provided me with an excellent combination. Perseus and Arjun need to lead them."

The two devas gave him shocked looks.

"Oh boy, firstly, the Greek leader would definitely not like it. He'll want to call for support from the Romans, even if the Greeks would be dead by the time they arrive, but not take support from someone who should have been dead." Varuna carefully pointed out.

"Besides Zeus would want to bring them to justice as soon as they arrive. Arjun for being the son of our brother, and Perseus for the long list of crimes that the campers pinned against him. Hecate proved that it was the Mist that tricked them, but then Zeus would decide to kill Perseus for trying to harm his son…" Surya added.

"I know, and that's why I would like them to use the hoodies that you both had given them at all times. And give them these," Erebus handed the devas a small mask, which would only cover a person's mouth. "It would change their voices so that their past…acquaintances cannot recognize them."

"Do they really have to do this?" Varuna pleaded, but Erebus replied firmly, "For the sake of winning this war, for the sake of giving us a fighting chance, they have to. This is my order, as their patron."

The two devas nodded and disappeared in bursts of light, leaving Erebus, drinking a cup of coffee that materialized in his hand.

"We're on, my love. It's time for war."

**A/N: I am firstly, incredibly sorry for updating so late. Life has been busy with exams and college admissions and crazy stuff like that. I will try to be faster in updating my chapters, and I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Until next time, take care, stay safe, and leave a review if there's anything you want me to know about this story. **


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